diff options
Diffstat (limited to '39221.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 39221.txt | 3615 |
1 files changed, 3615 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/39221.txt b/39221.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..75e4d03 --- /dev/null +++ b/39221.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3615 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Flags:, by Andrew Macgeorge + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + + +Title: Flags: + Some Account of their History and Uses. + +Author: Andrew Macgeorge + +Release Date: March 21, 2012 [EBook #39221] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLAGS: *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Ernest Schaal, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + + + + + + + + + FLAGS: + + SOME ACCOUNT OF THEIR HISTORY + AND USES. + + + + + _Of this large-paper Edition only 100 Copies have + been printed for sale._ + + _This Copy is No. 80_ + + + + + [Illustration: PLATE I + + STANDARD PRESENTED BY NAPOLEON I TO HIS GUARDS AT ELBA + A SHORT TIME BEFORE HE INVADED FRANCE IN 1815] + + + + + Flags: + + SOME ACCOUNT OF THEIR HISTORY + AND USES. + + + BY + A. MACGEORGE, + + AUTHOR OF + "OLD GLASGOW," "THE ARMORIAL INSIGNIA OF GLASGOW," + ETC. + + + BLACKIE & SON: + LONDON, GLASGOW, AND EDINBURGH. + 1881. + + + + + PREFATORY NOTE. + + +In a nation like ours, with a dominion so extended, and with +communication by sea and land with all parts of the world, the flags +under which ships sail and armies and navies fight, cannot be without +interest. Yet there are few subjects in regard to which the means of +information are less accessible. The object of the present volume is to +give, in a popular form, some account of our own flags, and of those of +other nations, ancient and modern, with some notices regarding the use +of flags, in naval warfare and otherwise. + +I have taken occasion to point out certain heraldic inaccuracies in the +construction of our national flag, and also in the design on our bronze +coinage. I shall be glad if what I have written be the means, by +directing public attention to the subject, of effecting the correction +of these errors. + + A. M. +_Glenarn, December, 1880._ + + + + + CONTENTS. + + + Page + + INTRODUCTORY, 11 + + ANCIENT STANDARDS, 13 + + DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLAGS--GONFANON, PENNON, PENONCEL, 28 + + BANNERS, 29 + + STANDARDS--THE ROYAL STANDARD, 36 + + STANDARDS BORNE BY NOBLES, 44 + + FLAGS OF THE COVENANTERS, 51 + + NATIONAL FLAGS, 54 + + THE UNION FLAG, 55 + + THE UNION JACK, 64 + + THE ENSIGN, 67 + + SPECIAL FLAGS, 71 + + THE PENDANT, 72 + + SIGNALS AND OTHER FLAGS, 73 + + USE OF FLAGS IN NAVAL WARFARE, 75 + + INTERNATIONAL USAGE AS TO FLAGS, 88 + + FLAGS OF THE BRITISH ARMY, 96 + + USE OF FLAGS BY PRIVATE PERSONS, 102 + + FOREIGN FLAGS--FRANCE, 103 + + THE AMERICAN FLAG, 110 + + OTHER FOREIGN FLAGS, 113 + + CONCLUSION, 117 + + INDEX, 119 + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. + + + COLOURED PLATES. + + Plate Page + + I. Standard presented by Napoleon I. to his Guards at Elba, + a short time before he invaded France in 1815, _Frontispiece_ + + II. The "Bluidy Banner" carried at Bothwell Brig, A.D. 1670, 54 + + III. Union Flags and Pendant, 62 + + IV. National Flags and Standards, 108 + + V. Do. do. 112 + + VI. Do. do. 116 + + + WOODCUTS. + + Fig. + + 1. Ancient Egyptian Standards, 14 + + 2. Other forms of Egyptian Standards, 15 + + 3. Do. do. 15 + + 4. Assyrian Standard, 17 + + 5. Another form of Assyrian Standard, 17 + + 6. Assyrian Standards and Standard-bearers, 18 + + 7. Other varieties of Assyrian Standards, 19 + + 8. Persian Standard, 20 + + 9. Turkish Horse-tail Standard, 20 + + 10. Standard of Turkish Pacha, 21 + + 11. Roman Eagle, 21 + + 12. The Roman Wolf on Standard, 21 + + 13. Group of Roman Standards, 22 + + 14. Roman Standard--Various Devices on same Staff, 23 + + 15. Another form with different Devices, 23 + + 16. Other Roman Standards, 24 + + 17. Roman Labarum, 24 + + 18. Standard of Constantine, 25 + + 19. Dragon used as Roman Standard, 25 + + 20. Standard of Earl of Warwick, 1437, 45 + + 21. Flag of the Earl Marshall, 46 + + 22. Standard of Earl Douglas, 1388, 48 + + 23. Later Banner of the Douglas's, 49 + + 24. The "Blue Blanket," 1482, 51 + + 25. Flag of the Covenanters, 1679, 52 + + 26. The Union Flag as now borne, 59 + + 27. The Union on the Bronze Penny, 64 + + 28. Regimental Colours of 24th Regiment, 97 + + 29. Queen's Colours of 24th Regiment as presented to the Queen, 98 + + 30. The Oriflamme, circa A.D. 1248, 104 + + 31. The French Eagle, during the Empire, 108 + + 32. United States Flag, as used in 1777, 111 + + + + + FLAGS. + + +On that morning when the news arrived from South Africa of the disaster +at Isandlana, there was general mourning for the loss of so many brave +men; but there was mourning also of a different kind,--with some perhaps +even deeper--for the loss of the colours of the 24th Regiment. And yet, +after all, it was only a bit of silk which had been lost, having on it +certain devices and inscriptions--a thing of no intrinsic value, and +which could be replaced at a cost merely nominal. But it possessed +extrinsic qualities which could be measured by no money value, and every +one felt that the loss was one to redeem which, or rather to redeem what +that loss represented, demanded, if necessary, the putting forth of the +strength of a great nation. And so, when it was found that the colours +never had been really lost--that they had been saved by brave men who +had laid down their lives in defending them--there was throughout the +nation a feeling of intense relief that national honour had been saved; +a feeling of rejoicing far beyond what was evoked by the news of the +capture of the Zulu king and the termination of the war. So at sea. In +our great wars in which the navy of Great Britain played so prominent a +part, we became so accustomed to see the flag of the enemy bent on under +our own ensign, that if an exceptional case occurred where the position +of the two flags was reversed, it went home to the heart of every loyal +subject with a pang which the loss of many ships by storm and tempest +would not have produced. + +Yet how few of us know what the national colours are, what the Union is, +what the Royal Standard is. Not to speak of civilians, are there many +officers, in either the army or the navy, who, without a copy before +them, could accurately construct or describe the flag of the nation +under which they fight, or tell what its component parts represent? I +doubt it. And, after all, they would not be so much without excuse, for +even at the Horse Guards and the Admiralty, there is some confusion of +ideas on the subject. I have before me "The Queen's Regulations and +Orders for the Army," issued by the Commander-in-chief, in which flags +which can be flown only on shore are confounded with flags which can be +flown nowhere but on board ship. Yet the subject is really an +interesting one, and, connected as it is with national history, it is +deserving of a little study. + +Flags are of many kinds, and they are put to many uses. They are the +representatives of nations; they distinguish armies and fleets, and to +insult a flag is to insult the nation whose ensign it is. We see in +flags, says Carlyle, "the divine idea of duty, of heroic daring--in some +instances of freedom and right." There are national flags, flags of +departments, and personal flags; and as signals they are of the greatest +value as a means of communication at sea. + + + + + ANCIENT STANDARDS. + + +It is chiefly of our own flags that I intend to speak, but it may be +interesting to say something of those which were in use among the +peoples of ancient history. + +From the earliest times of which we have authentic records, standards or +banners were borne by nations, and carried in battle. It was so in Old +Testament times, as we know from the mention of banners as early as the +time of Moses. They are repeatedly referred to by David and Solomon. The +lifting up of ensigns is frequently mentioned in the Psalms and by the +Prophets, while the expression, "Terrible as an army with banners," +shows the importance and the awe with which they were regarded. + + [Illustration: Fig. 1.--Egyptian Standards.] + +We find representations of standards on the oldest bas-reliefs of Egypt. +Indeed, the invention of standards is, by ancient writers, attributed to +the Egyptians. According to Diodorus, the Egyptian standards consisted +generally of the figures of their sacred animals borne on the end of a +staff or spear, and in the paintings at Thebes we find on them such +objects as a king's name and a sacred boat. One prominent and much used +form was a figure resembling an expanded semicircular fan, and another +example shows this form reversed and surmounted by the head of the +goddess Athor, crowned with her symbolic disk and cow's horns. Another +figure also used as a standard resembles a round-headed table-knife. +Examples of these, and of the sacred ibis and dog, are shown in Fig. +1.[1] But on the Egyptian standards--those which were no doubt used in +Pharaoh's army--there were various other figures, including reptiles +such as lizards and beetles, with birds crowned with the fan-like +ornament already referred to. A group of these is given in Fig. 2; but +they had many other forms. Those represented in Fig. 3, and which show +some curious symbolic forms, are taken from the works of Champollion, +Wilkinson, and Rosellini. + + [1] For this, and figures 6, 14, and 15, I am indebted to the + courtesy of Messrs. A. and C. Black. They appear in the + _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, vol. ix. p. 276. + + [Illustration: Fig. 2.--Egyptian Standards.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 3.--Egyptian Standards.] + +That the Hebrews carried standards after the exodus is, as I have +already said, certain, and the probability is that they derived the +practice from the Egyptian nation, from whose bondage they had just +escaped, for they bore as devices figures of birds and animals, and +also human figures, just as the Egyptians did. One of the earliest of +the divine commands given to Moses was that "every man of the children +of Israel shall pitch by his own standard with the ensign of their +father's house."[2] The _ensign_ probably meant the particular device +borne upon the standard by each tribe; and tradition has assigned as +these the symbolic cherubim seen in the visions of Ezekiel and +John--Judah bearing a lion, Reuben a man, Ephraim an ox, and Dan an +eagle. This is the opinion of the later Jews. The Targumists believe +that, besides these representations, the banners were distinguished by +particular colours--the colour for each tribe being analogous to that of +the precious stone in the breastplate of the high-priest. They consider +also that each standard bore the name of the tribe with a particular +sentence from the Law. The modern opinion, however, is that the Hebrew +standards were distinguished only by their colours, and by the name of +the tribe to which each belonged. + + [2] Numbers ii. 2. + +Apart from the direct Scripture evidence on the subject, this bearing of +distinguishing standards is what might be expected in a military +organization such as that of the Israelites, just as we find them using +warlike music. It is interesting to note that even the particular +trumpet signals to be used for the assembling and advance of the troops, +and in cases of alarm in time of war, are carefully prescribed,[3] while +the association of their military standards with the trumpet is +indicated in the exclamation of Jeremiah: "How long shall I see the +standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?"[4] + + [3] Numbers x. 3. + + [4] Jer. iv. 21. + + [Illustration: + Fig. 4.--An Assyrian Standard. Fig. 5.--Another Assyrian Standard.] + +As the standard was among all nations regarded with reverence, so the +standard-bearer was selected for his strength and courage. So important +was this considered that Isaiah, in describing the ruin and discomfiture +that was about to fall on the King of Assyria, could find no stronger +expression than to say that his overthrow would be "as when a +standard-bearer fainteth."[5] + + [5] Isa. x. 18. + + [Illustration: Fig. 6.--Assyrian Standards and Standard-bearers.] + +The standards of the Assyrians, like those of the Egyptians, consisted +of figures fastened on the end of spears or staffs; but of these very +few varieties have been yet discovered. Layard says[6] that "standards +were carried by the Assyrian charioteers. In the sculptures they have +only two devices [Figs. 4, 5, 6]: one a figure, probably that of a +divinity, standing on a bull and drawing a bow; in the other, two bulls +running in opposite directions. These figures are inclosed in a circle +and fixed to a long staff ornamented with streamers and tassels. The +standards appear to have been partly supported by a rest in front of the +chariot, and a long rope connecting them with the extremity of the pole. +In a bas-relief of Khorsabad this rod is attached to the top of a +standard." The interesting illustration given in Fig. 6 is from a +sculpture in which these standards are represented with the figures of +the standard-bearers, and in which also the ropes or supports of the +staff are indicated. + + [6] _Nineveh and its Remains._ + + [Illustration: Fig. 7.--Assyrian Standards.] + +There were, however, varieties in the forms of the Assyrian standards +other than those mentioned by Layard. In the annexed cut (Fig. 7) the +one to the left is from a sculpture in the British Museum. The others +are given on the authority of Botta. + + [Illustration: + Fig. 8.--Persian Standard. Fig. 9.--Turkish Horse-tail Standard.] + +The Persians, like the Assyrians, carried their standards, in battle, on +staffs or spears attached to chariots. Their royal standard was a golden +eagle with wings expanded carried on the end of a spear. They had also a +figure of the sun which they used on great occasions when the king was +present with the army. Quintus Curtius describes one of these figures of +the sun, inclosed in a crystal, as making a very splendid appearance +above the royal tent. But the proper royal standard of the Persians for +many centuries, until the Mahommedan conquest, was a blacksmith's +leather apron, around which the people had been at one time rallied to a +successful opposition against an invader (Fig. 8). Many other national +standards have had their origin in similar causes. Something which was +at hand was seized in an emergency, and lifted up as a rallying point +for the people, and afterwards adopted from the attachment which clung +to it as an object identified with patriotic deeds. In this way +originated the horse-tails borne as a standard by the modern Turks (Fig. +9). Under the old system, among that people, the distinction of rank +between the two classes of pachas was indicated by the number of these +horse-tails, the standards of the second class having only two tails, +while those of the higher had three. Hence the term a pacha of two tails +or three. A further mark of distinction appears to have been the +elevation of one of the tails above the others, and the surmounting of +each with the crescent, as shown in Fig. 10. + + [Illustration: Fig. 10.--Standard of Pacha.] + +The Romans had various forms of standards, some composed entirely of +fixed figures of different devices, including figures of animals. The +eagle, according to Pliny, was the first and chief military ensign. In +the second consulship of Caius Marius (B.C. 104) the eagle (Fig. 11) +alone was used, but at a subsequent period some of the old emblems were +resumed. These were the minotaur, the horse, and the wild boar; and on +the Trajan Column we find as one of their standards the historic wolf +(Fig. 12). + + [Illustration: Fig. 11.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 12.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 13.--Roman Standards.] + +One of the most ancient of the Roman standards had an origin similar to +that of the apron of the Persians and the horse-tails of the Turks. It +was derived from a popular rising which took place in the time of +Romulus, and was composed of a wisp of hay attached to the end of a pole +(as seen in Fig. 13), and carried into battle. From its name, +_manipulus_, the companies of foot soldiers, of which the _hastati_, +_principes_, and _triarii_ of each legion were composed, came to be +called maniples--_manipuli_. Another standard borne by the Romans was a +spear with a piece of cross wood at the top with the figure of a hand +above, and having below a small round shield of gold or silver, as shown +in Fig. 13. On this circle were at first represented the warlike deities +Mars and Minerva, but after the extinction of the commonwealth it bore +the effigies of the emperors and their favourites. From these +coin-shaped devices the standards were called _numina legionum_. The +eagle was sometimes represented with a thunderbolt in its claws, of +which an example will be seen in Fig. 13. Under the later emperors it +was carried with the legion, which was on that account sometimes termed +_aquila_. The place for this standard was near the general, almost in +the centre. + + [Illustration: Fig. 14.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 15.] + +Another common form of the Roman standard consisted in a variety of +figures and devices exhibited on the same staff, one over the other. On +the top of one of these will be seen a human hand (Fig. 14). This by +itself, or inclosed, as here, within a wreath, was, as I have mentioned, +a frequent device, and was probably of oriental origin. It is also found +as a symbol in ancient Mexico; and at the present day the flagstaffs of +the Persians terminate in a silver hand. Among the pieces composing this +form of standard are also found the eagle, and figures of the emperors +inclosed in circles, with other devices (Fig. 15). A common form is that +numbered 5 in Fig. 16. This example is taken from the Arch of Titus. The +eagle surmounting the thunderbolt with the letters S P Q R (No. 3) was +also a common form. The letters indicate _Senatus Populusque Romanus_. +The examples Nos. 1 and 2 in Fig. 16 are from Montfaucon. No. 4 is given +by Mr. Hope. + +The _vexillum_ of the Romans was a standard composed of a square piece +of cloth fastened to a cross bar at the top of a spear, sometimes with a +fringe all round as shown in Fig. 13, and sometimes fringed only below +(No. 4, Fig. 16), or without a fringe, but draped at the sides (Fig. +17). When placed over the general's tent it was a sign for marching, or +for battle. + + [Illustration: Fig. 16.--Roman Standards.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 17.] + +The _labarum_ of the emperors was similar in form, and frequently bore +upon it a representation of the emperor, sometimes by himself and +sometimes accompanied by the heads of members of his family. It has been +said that the Emperor Constantine bore on the top of his standard the +sign of the cross, but this was not so. The cross at that time was known +only as a heathen emblem, and was not adopted by the Christians till +afterwards. That which Constantine bore was what in his time was the +only recognized Christian emblem--the first two letters of our Lord's +name (Fig. 18)--the Greek X (English CH) and P (in English R). The +_labarum_ was made of silk. The term is sometimes used for other +standards, and its form may still be recognized in the banners carried +in ecclesiastical processions. The _labarum_, like the _vexillum_, had +sometimes fringes with tassels or ribbons. + + [Illustration: Fig. 18.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 19.] + +The dragon, an ensign of the Parthians, was adopted by the Romans as the +standard of their cohorts. It appears as such on the Arch of Severus. It +was also the device of the Dacians, and indeed seems to have been a +general ensign among barbarians. Besides being carried as a separate +figure in metal--as shown in Fig. 19--it was frequently embroidered in +cotton or silk on a square piece of cloth borne on a cross bar elevated +on a gilt staff; the bearer being called _draconarius_. From the Romans +the dragon came to the Western Empire. It was borne by the German +Emperors. In England also it was for some time the chief standard of the +kings, and of the Dukes of Normandy, and according to Sir Richard Bacon +it was the standard of Utor Pendragon, king of the Britons.[7] The +golden dragon was in the eighth century the standard of Wessex, and it +was displayed in a great battle in 742 when Ethelbald, the king of +Mercia, was defeated. It was also borne on a pole by King Harold as a +standard. It was borne by Henry VII. at Bosworth Field, and at a later +date it was carried as a supporter by Henry VIII. and Edward VI., and +also by Elizabeth. In many of the illuminations of MSS. in the fifteenth +century we also find a gold dragon on a red pennon, as one of the +ensigns in the French armies. + + [7] Nisbet's _Heraldry_, vol. i. p. 343. + +The infantry flag of the Romans was red, that of the cavalry blue, and +that of a consul white. + +The banners of the Parthians resembled those of the Romans, but they +were more richly decorated with gold and silk. + +In early times the Greeks carried as a standard a piece of armour on a +spear, but although they had an ensign, the elevation of which served as +a signal for giving battle either by land or by sea, they were not +regularly marshalled by banners. In their later history their different +cities bore different sacred emblems. Thus the Athenians were +distinguished by the olive and the owl, and the Corinthians by a +Pegasus. + +At what time the form of standard which we call a flag was first used is +not known. It was certainly not the earliest but the ultimate form which +the standard assumed. The original form was some fixed object such as we +have seen on the Egyptian and Roman examples, and the vexillum and +labarum were transitional forms. The waving flag is said to have been +first used by the Saracens. Another account is that the flag first +acquired its present form in the sixth century, in Spain. The banners +which Bede mentions as being carried by St. Augustine and his monks, +when they entered Canterbury in procession, in the latter part of the +sixth century, were probably in the form of the Roman labarum. He calls +them little banners on which were depicted crosses. + +Of our own national flags the earliest forms were those which bore the +cognizance of the ruler for the time being. The well-known ensign of the +Danes at the time of their dominion in Britain was the raven. The +dragon, as we have seen, was in the eighth century the cognizance of +Wessex, and the Saxons had also on their standards a white horse. Of our +later royal standards and those of other nations I shall speak +afterwards. + +The forms of flags in our own country have varied very much. It was not +till the time of the Crusades, when heraldry began to assume a definite +form, that they became subject to established rules. Up to that period +flags were, as a rule, small in size, and they usually terminated in +points, like the more modern pennon. Such were the standards of the +Normans. At the Battle of the Standard in 1138 the staff of the English +standard was in the form of the mast of a ship, having a silver pyx at +the top, containing the host, and bearing three sacred banners dedicated +respectively to St. Peter, St. John of Beverley, and St. Wilfrid of +Ripon, the whole being fastened--like the standards of the Persians and +Assyrians--to a wheeled vehicle. + +From an early period the practice has prevailed of blessing standards, +and this has continued to our own day in the British army when new +colours are presented to a regiment--there being a special form of +service at the consecration. The banner of William the Conqueror was one +blessed and sent to him by the pope. Indeed, it has been the practice of +the popes in every age to give consecrated banners where they wished +success to an enterprise. + + + + + DIFFERENT KINDS OF FLAGS--GONFANON--PENNON--PENONCEL. + + +In the middle ages almost every flag was a military one. A very early +form, borne near the person of the commander-in-chief, was the Gonfanon. +It was fixed in a frame made to turn like a modern ship's vane. That of +the Conqueror, as depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, had three tails, and +was charged with a golden cross on a white ground within a blue border. + +Of other forms of flags the principal varieties were the penoncel, the +pennon or guidon, the banner, and the standard. + +The Pennon was a purely personal flag, pointed, borne below the +lance-head by a knight-bachelor, and charged with the arms, or crest, +and motto of the bearer. But in early times no knight displayed a pennon +who had not followers to defend it--the mounting of this ensign being a +matter of privilege, not of obligation. The order of knight-bachelor was +the most ancient and originally the sole order, being the degree +conferred by one knight on another without the intervention of prince, +noble, or churchman, and its privileges and duties approached nearly to +those of the knight-errant.[8] + + [8] Sir Walter Scott, _Essay on Chivalry_, p. 79. + +The Penoncel, which was carried by the esquire, was the diminutive of +the pennon, being one-half its breadth. It was borne at the end of a +lance, and usually bore the cognizance or "avowrye" of the bearer. This +flag was not carried by the esquire after the fight began, but was then +either held by an inferior attendant, or put up by the owner's tent. + + + BANNERS. + +The Banner was the flag of a troop, and was borne by knights, called +after it bannerets, an order which held a middle rank between +knights-bachelors and the barons or great feudatories of the crown. The +flag of a knight-banneret was square at the end, but not an exact square +on all the sides. The perfectly square banner was the flag of a baron, +and of those of higher rank. + +It was only on the field of battle, and in presence of the royal +standard, that a knight-banneret could be created. It was the custom for +the commander of the host thus to reward the distinguished services of a +knight-bachelor bearing a pennon, and he did so by tearing off the +"fly," or outer part of that flag, and by so doing giving it a square +form, thus making it a banner, and its bearer a knight-banneret. The +ceremony is thus described by Blome.[9] "The king (or his general), at +the head of the army, drawn up into battalia after a victory, under the +royal standard displayed, attended with all the field-officers and +nobles of the court, receives the knight led between two renowned +knights or valiant men-at-arms, having his pennon or guydon of arms in +his hand; and before them the heralds, who proclaim his valiant +achievements, for which he deserves to be made a knight-banneret, and to +display his banner in the field. Then the king (or general) says unto +him _Advances toy, Bannaret_, and causes the point of his pennon to be +rent off; and the new knight, having the trumpets before him sounding, +the nobles and officers accompanying him, is remitted to his tent, where +they are nobly entertained." + + [9] _Analogia Honoria_. London, 1637; p. 84. + +But knights were thus promoted before a battle as well as after it. +Froissart relates the manner in which the celebrated Sir John Chandos +was made banneret by the Black Prince before the battle of Navarete. The +whole scene forms a striking picture of an army of the middle ages +moving to battle. Upon the pennons of the knights, penoncels of the +squires, and banners of the barons and bannerets, the army formed, or, +in modern phrase, dressed its line. The usual word of the attack was, +"Advance banners in the name of God and Saint George." "When the sun was +risen," writes Froissart, "it was a beautiful sight to view these +battalions, with their brilliant armour glittering with its beams. In +this manner they nearly approached to each other. The prince, with a few +attendants, mounted a small hill, and saw very clearly the enemy +marching straight towards them. Upon descending this hill he extended +his line of battle on the plain, and then halted. The Spaniards, seeing +the English halted, did the same, in order of battle; then each man +tightened his armour and made ready as for instant combat. Sir John +Chandos then advanced in front of the battalions, with his banner +[pennon] uncased in his hand. He presented it to the prince, saying 'My +lord, here is my banner; I present it to you that I may display it in +whatever manner shall be most agreeable to you, for, thanks to God, I +have now sufficient lands that will enable me so to do, and maintain the +rank which it ought to hold.' The prince, Don Pedro being present, took +the banner in his hands, which was blazoned with a sharp stake gules, on +a field argent; and after having cut off the tail to make it square, he +displayed it, and, returning it to him by the handle, said, 'Sir John, I +return you your banner: God give you strength and honour to preserve +it.' Upon this Sir John left the prince, and went back to his men with +the banner in his hand."[10] + + [10] Johnes' _Froissart_, vol. i. p. 731. + +A banneret was expected to bring into the field at least thirty +men-at-arms--that is, knights or squires mounted--at his own expense; +and each of these, again, besides his attendants on foot, ought to have +had a mounted crossbow-man, and a horseman armed with a bow and +axe--forming altogether a large troop. The same force might be arrayed +by a knight under a pennon, but his accepting a banner bound him to +bring out that number at least. After the reign of Charles IV. this +obligation fell into disuse in France, and in England, soon after that +time, it also ceased to be observed.[11] Judging, however, from the +contemporary heraldic poem of the "Siege of Carlaverock" (June, 1300), +it would appear that early in the fourteenth century there was a banner +to every twenty-five or thirty men-at-arms. At that period the English +forces comprised the tenants _in capite_ of the crown, who were entitled +to lead their contingent under a banner of their arms--either by +themselves or under a deputy of equal rank. Thus at Carlaverock the +Bishop of Durham sent 160 of his men-at-arms, with his banner intrusted +to John de Hastings. But his banner on this occasion bore, not the +cognisance of the see, but simply his paternal arms. Having mentioned +this old poem--in which the arms of every banneret in the English army +are accurately blazoned--it may be interesting to give one of the +opening verses, as an example of the Norman French of the period-- + + "La ont meinte riche garnement + Brode sur cendeaus et samis, + Meint beau penon en lance mis, + Meint baniere desploie." + +In English--There were many rich caparisons, embroidered on silks and +satins, many a beautiful penon fixed to a lance, and many a banner +displayed. + + [11] Sir Walter Scott, _Essay on Chivalry_. + +In the Scottish wars, the banner of St. Cuthbert was, in the English +army, carried by a monk. This continued to be done so late as the reign +of Henry VIII. In the same way the banner of St. John of Beverley was +carried by one of the vicars of Beverley College--who, by the way, +received eight pence halfpenny per diem as his wages, to carry it after +the king--a large sum in those days--and a penny a day to carry it +back.[12] The bearer of a banner, or bannerer as he was called, was in +these early times a very important personage. In the old paintings in +MSS. the persons holding the national or royal banners are generally +represented in the same kind of armour as the chief leaders. And they +were liberally rewarded for their services. In 1361 Edward III. granted +Sir Guy de Bryon 200 marks a year for life for having discreetly borne +the king's banner at the siege of Calais in 1347.[13] + + [12] Prynne's _Antiquae Constitutiones Angliae_, vol. iii. p. 118. + + [13] _Calend. Rot. Patent._ p. 173. + +We learn from the "Siege of Carlaverock" that a pennon hung out by the +besieged was the signal for a parley. When the castle surrendered there +were placed on its battlements, we are told, the banners of the king, of +St. George, of St. Edmund, and St. Edward, together with those of the +marshall and constable of the army. To these were added the banner of +the individual to whose custody the castle was committed. But it is +doubtful whether in the fifteenth century any others but those of the +king and St. George were affixed to captured fortresses. + +In France the office of custodier of national banners--such as the +Oriflamme--was hereditary. It was the same in Ireland, which claims a +higher antiquity in the use of banners than any other European nation; +and in Scotland the representative of the great house of Scrymgeour +enjoys the honour of being banner-bearer to the sovereign.[14] + + [14] _Vicissitudes of Families and other Essays_, by Sir Bernard + Burke, 1st series, p. 387. + +It was the custom in early times to have banners suspended from +trumpets. At the battle of Agincourt the Duke of Brabant, who arrived on +the field towards the close of the conflict, is said, by St. Remy, to +have taken one of the banners from his trumpeters, and, cutting a hole +in the middle, made a surcoat of arms of it. To this circumstance +Shakespeare thus alludes-- + + "I will a banner from my trumpet take + And use it for my haste." + +Chaucer, too, notices banners being suspended from +trumpets-- + + "On every trump hanging a brod banere, + Of fine tartarium full richly bete, + Every trumpet his lorde's armes bere."[15] + + [15] _Flour and the Leafe_, 1 211. + +At coronations banners were also used; and in the fifteenth century +heralds, when despatched on missions, appear to have carried a banner +bearing their sovereign's arms. Banners were also for a long time used +at funerals. It was not till about the period of the Revolution that the +practice fell into comparative desuetude. + + + + + STANDARDS--THE ROYAL STANDARD. + + +The Standard was a large long flag, gradually tapering towards the fly. +According to the representation of a standard, in a heraldic MS. at +least as early as the reign of Henry VII., in the British Museum, it was +not quite so deep but very much longer than a banner,[16] and it varied +in size according to the rank of the owner. In England that of a duke +was seven yards in length, of a banneret four and a half, and of a +knight-bachelor four yards. + + [16] _Harleian MSS._ 2259, f. 186. + +The Royal Standard of England, when the sovereign in person commanded +the army, appears to have been of two sizes. According to the MS. +referred to, one of these standards is to be "sett before the Kynges +pavillion or tente, and not to be borne in battayle, and to be in length +eleven yards." The other--"the Kynges standard _to be borne_"--is to be +"in lengthe eight or nine yards." + +The Royal Standard is a flag personal to the sovereign. It was not +always exclusively so, for in the seventeenth century the Lord High +Admiral, when personally in command of the fleet, and sometimes also +other commanders-in-chief, flew as their flag of command, not the Union, +but the Standard. It was so flown at the main by the Duke of Buckingham +as Lord High Admiral, on the occasion when he disgraced the English flag +in the unfortunate expedition against the Isle of Rhe in 1627. But now +the Royal Standard is used only by the sovereign in person, or as a +decoration on royal fete days. There are depicted on it the royal arms, +which have had various forms in different periods of our history. The +standard of Edward the Confessor was azure a cross flore between five +martlets, or. The arms of William Duke of Normandy, emblazoned on his +standard, were two lions, and they were borne by him and his successors, +as the royal arms of England, till the reign of Henry II. That monarch +married Eleanor, daughter and co-heiress of the Duke of Aquitaine, whose +arms--one lion--Henry added to his own. Hence the three lions _passant +gardant in pale_, borne ever since as the ensigns of England. These now +occupy the first and fourth quarters of the standard, but they did not +always do so. The fleurs-de-lis of France were, till a comparatively +recent period, quartered with the English arms, having been first borne +by Edward III. when he assumed the title of King of France. Many noble +families, both in this country and on the Continent, have quartered the +French lilies to show their origin, or in acknowledgment of the tenure +of important fiefs there. Among the last may be mentioned the arms of +Sir John Stewart of Darnley, who obtained from Charles VII. the lands +and title of Aubigny, and the right to quarter the arms of France with +his own. But in all these instances the fleurs-de-lis occupied a +secondary place. So if Henry II. had desired merely to show his French +connection, by maternal descent, he would have placed them in the second +and third quarters. But he placed them in the first quarter, as arms of +dominion, to indicate that he claimed the kingdom by right, and our +sovereigns continued this idle pretence till so late as the reign of +George III. It was not till the union with Ireland that it was +discontinued. + +Some of the English kings bore personal standards besides the flag of +their own arms. Edward IV., besides his royal standard, generally bore a +banner with a white rose. Henry VII. at the battle of Bosworth Field had +three personal standards, in addition to the standard of his own arms. +The blazon of these three, and how the king disposed of them after the +battle, are thus described in a contemporary manuscript:--"With great +pompe and triumphe he roade through the Cytie to the Cathedral Church of +St. Paul where he offered his iij standards. In the one was the image of +St. George; in the second was a red firye dragon beaten upon white and +green sarcenet; the third was of yellow tarterne [a kind of fine cloth +of silk] in the which was painted a donne Kowe."[17] + + [17] _Lansdowne MSS._ 255, f. 433. + +The Royal Standard of Scotland was a red lion rampant on a gold field +within a red double tressure, flore counterflore, of which the origin is +veiled in the mists of antiquity. Our great heraldic authority, Nisbet, +in common with earlier writers, adopts the tradition which assigns the +assumption of the rampant lion to Fergus I., who is alleged to have +flourished as King of Scotland about 330 years before Christ. He also +refers to the celebrated league which Charlemagne is said to have +entered into in the beginning of the ninth century with Achaius, King of +Scotland, on account of his assistance in war, "for which special +service performed by the Scots the French king encompassed the Scots +lion, which was famous all over Europe, with a double tressure, flowered +and counterflowered with flower de luces, the armorial figures of +France, of the colour of the lion, to show that it had formerly defended +the French lilies, and that these thereafter shall continue a defence +for the Scots lion and as a badge of friendship."[18] On the other hand +Chalmers observes that these two monarchs were probably not even aware +of each other's existence, and he suggests that the lion--which first +appears on the seal of Alexander II.--may have been derived from the +arms of the old Earls of Northumberland and Huntingdon, from whom some +of the Scottish kings were descended. He adds, however, that the lion +was the cognisance of Galloway, and perhaps also of all the Celtic +nations. Chalmers also mentions an "ould roll of armes," preserved by +Leland, said to be of the age of Henry III. (1216), and which the +context shows to be at least as old as the reign of Edward I. (1272), in +which the arms of Scotland are thus described: "Le roy de Scosce dor a +un lion de goules a un bordure dor flurette de goules."[19] In 1471 the +parliament of James III. "ordanit that in tyme to cum thar suld be na +double tresor about his armys, but that he suld ber hale armys of the +lyoun without ony mar." If this alteration of the blazon was ever +actually made, it did not long continue.[20] + + [18] _System of Heraldry_, vol. ii. part iii. p. 98. + + [19] _Caledonia_, i. 762, note (i.). + + [20] Seton's _Law and Practice of Heraldry in Scotland_, p. 425. + +With one noted exception Scotland never quartered the arms of any +kingdom with her own. The exception was when Mary Stuart claimed the +arms and style of England, and quartered these arms on her standard. +This was perhaps the first, and, as it proved, an inexpiable provocation +to Elizabeth.[21] Mary's mode of blazoning was peculiar. She bore +Scotland and England quarterly--the former being placed first, and, over +all, _the dexter half_ of an escutcheon of pretence, charged with the +arms of England, the sinister half being obscured in order to intimate +that she was kept out of her right.[22] + + [21] Hallam's _Constitutional History_, 4th edit. i. 127. + + [22] Strype's _Annals_, quoted by Mr. Seton, p. 427. + +On the accession of James I. the Royal Standard of England was altered. +The arms of France and England quarterly appeared in the first and +fourth quarters, those of Scotland in the second, and in the third the +golden harp of Ireland, which had taken the place of the three crowns. +But an exception occurred in the case of William III., who, on his +landing in England, had a standard bearing the motto, "The Protestant +Religion and Liberties of England," and, under the royal arms of +England, instead of "Dieu et mon Droit," the words "And I will maintain +it." Afterwards he impaled on his standard the arms of Mary with his +own. They are represented in this form in a MS. of the Harleian Library, +on a banner per pale orange and yellow. After his elevation to the +throne William placed over the arms of the queen, which were those of +her father James II., his own paternal coat of Nassau.[23] + + [23] Willement's _Regal Heraldry_, p. 95. + +George III. when he left out the ensigns of France marshalled on his +standard those of his Germanic states in an escutcheon of pretence--a +small shield in the centre point. This was omitted on the accession of +Queen Victoria, who bears on her standard the arms of England in the +first and fourth quarters, Scotland in the second, and Ireland in the +third. (See Plate IV. No. 1, p. 108.) + +But while the Royal Standard was, on the accession of James I., altered +for England in the way I have described, it was displayed according to a +different blazon in Scotland. For a long period, whenever the standard +was used to the north of the Tweed, the Scottish arms had precedence by +being placed in the first and fourth quarters. On the great seal of +Scotland this precedence is still continued, and the Scottish unicorn +also occupies the dexter side of the shield as a supporter. But on the +standard the arms of Scotland have now lost their precedence, those of +England being placed in the first quarter, and although there has been +much controversy on the subject, I agree with Mr. Seton[24] that it is +better that the arrangement should be so. The standard is the personal +flag of the sovereign of one united kingdom, and heraldic propriety +appears to require that only one unvarying armorial achievement should +be used on it--that of the larger and more important kingdom taking +precedence, although Nisbet[25] claims precedence for the Scottish arms +on the achievement of Great Britain as those of "the ancientest +sovereignty."[26] I certainly do not agree with Mr. Seton, however, that +either in the arms or supporters precedence ought to be granted to +England "in accordance with the sentiment of certain well-known +classical lines:-- + + "'The Lion and the Unicorn + Were fighting for the Crown, + The Lion beat the Unicorn + All round the town.'"[27] + + [24] _Scottish Heraldry_, p. 445. + + [25] Vol ii. part iii. p. 90. + + [26] Sir George Mackenzie says: "The King of Scotland being + equal in dignity with the Kings of England, France, and + Spain, attained to that dignity before any of these." He + therefore claims precedence for Scotland over all + these kingdoms. _Treatise on Precedency_, p. 4. + + [27] _Scottish Heraldry_, p. 446. + +I do not know where Mr. Seton got that version, inconsistent as it is +alike with patriotism and with historical accuracy. It is certainly not +the correct one. The true version, familiar to every boy in Scotland, is +more impartial, and it has more fun in it. It runs thus:-- + + "The Lion and the Unicorn, + Fighting for the Crown: + Up came a little dog + And knocked them both down." + +--the "little dog" being the small lion which stands defiantly on the +crown, and constitutes the royal crest at the top of the achievement. + +The supporters of the Scottish arms were two unicorns. In England, +previous to the accession of the Stuarts, the supporters of the royal +arms were changed at the caprice of the sovereign, and almost every king +or queen adopted new ones. From these, and from the royal badges, came +many of the curious names which may be found in old lists of ships. Such +as the "Antelope," which refers to one of the supporters of Henry VI.; +the "Bull" of Edward IV.; the "Dragon" of Henry VIII. and of Elizabeth. +So also the badges: the "Sun," "Rose in the Sun," and "Falcon in the +Fetterlock," were all worn by Edward IV. The "Double Rose" speaks for +itself, and the "Hawthorn" belonged to Henry VIII.[28] The supporters +assumed by King James, and continued to all his successors, were a lion +on the dexter side, and on the sinister one of the Scottish +unicorns--the latter displacing the red dragon of the Tudor family. + + [28] _Heraldry of the Sea_, by J. K. Laughton, M.A.R.N., 1879. + +In ships the Royal Standard is never hoisted now except when her Majesty +is on board, or a member of the royal family other than the Prince of +Wales. When the latter is on board his own standard is hoisted. It is +the same as that of the Queen, except that it bears a label argent of +three points, with the arms of Saxony on an escutcheon of pretence. The +standard of the Duke of Edinburgh is the same as that of the Prince of +Wales, except that the points of the label are charged, the first and +third with a blue anchor, and the second with the St. George's cross. +Wherever the sovereign is residing the Royal Standard is hoisted; and on +royal anniversaries and state occasions it is hoisted at certain +fortresses or stations--home and foreign--specified in the Queen's +Regulations. + + + + + STANDARDS BORNE BY NOBLES. + + +Standards borne by subjects were, in early times, according to the Tudor +MS. to be "slitt at the end," but they appear to have been also borne +square. This is the form in an old standard of Richard, Earl of +Warwick--circa 1437--bearing his badge of the bear and ragged staff +(Fig. 20). Shakespeare[29] alludes to this device when he puts into the +mouth of Warwick the words-- + + "Now by my father's badge, old Neville's crest, + The rampant bear chained to the ragged staff." + + [Illustration: Fig. 20.--Standard of the Earl of + Warwick, A.D. 1437.] + +But Shakespeare was out in his heraldry here, first in confounding the +badge with a crest, and secondly in calling it Neville's, for the bear +and the ragged staff had been the badge not of the Nevilles but of the +Beauchamps, who preceded Warwick in the earldom.[30] This old Earl of +Warwick had a similar device on the flag which he flew in his ship. It +was a long flag, having the cross of St. George on the upper part--then +the bear and ragged staff, and the remainder covered with ragged staffs. +It is interesting to note that the account for this and other flags made +for the earl in 1437, is preserved. The one just referred to is +described as "a great Stremour for the ship of xi yerdis length and viij +yerdis in brede," and the price for making it was "j^{li} vi^s +viii^d."[31] + + [29] _King Henry VI._ part ii. act v. sc. 1. + + [30] Seton's _Scottish Heraldry_, p. 252. + + [31] _Antiquities of Warwickshire._ + +In the Advocates' Library there is preserved an interesting flag, which +is said to have been the standard borne by the Earl Marshall at the +battle of Flodden (Fig. 21). It is thus described in the paper which +accompanies it: "The standard of the Earl Marshall of Scotland, carried +at the battle of Flodden, 1513, by _black_ John Skirving of Plewland +Hill, his standard-bearer. Skirving was taken prisoner, having +previously, however, concealed the banner about his person. The relic +was handed down in the Skirving family, and presented to the Faculty of +Advocates by William Skirving of Edinburgh, in the beginning of the +present century. The arms and motto are those of the Keith family." + + [Illustration: Fig. 21.--Flag of the Earl Marshall.] + +The flag may have been borne by the earl at Flodden, but the devices on +it are certainly not his _arms_. The arms of the Earl Marshall were, +argent, on a chief gules three pallets or; or, as it is otherwise given +by Nisbet, palle of six, or and gules. The _crest_ of the earl, however, +was a hart's head, and he had for supporters two harts. His motto also +was that which appears on the banner, "Veritas vincit." That the full +arms should not appear on the standard I can understand, for it was not +common to place them there, and in England the Tudor MS. prescribes +that, besides the cross of St. George, standards and guidons are to have +on them not the arms, but only the bearers "_beast_ or crest, with his +devyce and word." It is possible, therefore, that the earl may have +placed on his flag his well-known crest with the heads of the two harts +forming his supporters, though such an arrangement would be unusual. + + [Illustration: Fig. 22.--Standard of Earl Douglas, A.D. 1388.] + +The relic of a still older fight than that of Flodden is still preserved +in Scotland in the standard borne by Earl Douglas at Otterburn--one of +the most chivalrous battles, according to Froissart, that was ever +fought. The story, as told in all the histories,[32] is that shortly +before the battle, in a skirmish before Newcastle, Douglas, in a +personal encounter with Percy, won the pennon of the English leader, and +boasted that he would carry it to Scotland and plant it on his castle of +Dalkeith; and till lately this standard was supposed to be the flag so +captured. But recent investigation has shown that the flag--which, by +the way, is not a pennon but a standard thirteen feet long--is that of +Douglas himself, which of course his son would be careful to preserve +and bring back. The flag is now much faded, and the second word of the +motto was, when I saw it lately, not legible, but the motto is +undoubtedly that of Earl Douglas, "Jamais arriere" (Fig. 22). The +devices are not the arms as borne by his descendants the Dukes of +Douglas;--indeed they are not arranged as a coat of arms at all. But the +lion rampant for Galloway, the saltire for the lordship of Annandale, +and the heart and the star, are all Douglas bearings. Curiously enough, +there are two hearts, while the later earls bore only one, and there is +only one star, while on their shields they carried three. The real +trophies, the capture of which, in all probability, precipitated the +battle, are to be found in two other relics which are preserved along +with the flag. They consist of two lady's gauntlets, fringed with +filigree work in silver, on each of which is embroidered the white lion +of the Percys. The gloves are of different sizes, and were perhaps love +pledges, carried by Percy suspended from his spear or helmet, as was the +fashion of the time; and the loss of such tokens was quite as likely as +the loss of a personal flag, to cause the Northumbrian knight to pursue +Douglas and force him to battle.[33] These relics are in the possession +of the family of Douglas of Cavers in Roxburghshire, descended from the +earl who was slain at Otterburn. + + [32] Tytler's _History of Scotland_, ii. 365, &c. + + [33] Paper read by Mr. J. A. H. Murray of Hawick to the Hawick + Archaeological Society. + + [Illustration: Fig. 23.--Banner of the Douglas's.] + +Along with them is preserved another old flag of the Douglas's, but +evidently of a later date. It is a good example of the square banner +borne by knights of noble rank. It is about 28 inches square, and bears +on a shield the Douglas arms, but with the heart as originally borne +before it was ensigned with a crown, and the chivalric motto still used +by the Cavers family, "Doe or die" (Fig. 23). + + + + + FLAGS BORNE BY TRADES. + + +Besides national and personal flags, those of Trades and Companies were +frequently carried in armies, and of these many examples occur in the +illuminated copies of Froissart. On one occasion we find on a banner +azure a chevron between a hammer, trowel, and plumb. On another there is +an axe and two pairs of compasses. And on the painting of the battle +between Philip d'Artevel and the Flemings, and the King of France, +banners occur charged with boots and shoes, drinking vessels, &c. In +Scotland an interesting example is preserved of a Trades flag which was +borne at Flodden, and which was presented in 1482 by James III. to the +Trades of Edinburgh (Fig. 24). It is familiarly known as the _Blue +Blanket_, and is in the possession of the Trades' Maidens' Hospital of +Edinburgh. In an accompanying memorandum it is described thus: "The Blue +Blanket or standard of the Incorporated Trades of Edinburgh. Renewed by +Margaret, Queen of James III., King of Scots: Borne by the craftsmen at +the battle of Flodden in 1513, and displayed on subsequent occasions +when the liberties of the city or the life of the sovereign were in +danger." + +The field of the flag has been blue, but it is now much faded. In the +upper corner is the white saltire of Scotland, with the crown above and +the thistle in base. On a scroll in the upper part of the flag are the +words, "Fear God and Honor the king with a long life and a prosperous +reigne;" and, in a scroll below, the words, "And we that is Tradds shall +ever pray to be faithfull for the defence of his sacred Majestes royal +persone till death." The flag is about ten feet in length. + + [Illustration: Fig. 24.--The "Blue Blanket," A.D. 1482.] + + + + + FLAGS OF THE COVENANTERS. + + +Of the flags borne in Scotland by the Covenanters, in their noble +struggle for liberty, several are extant, and connected as they are with +so important a part of Scottish national history, they are replete with +interest. One of these, which is preserved by the Antiquarian Society of +Edinburgh, bears the national cross, the white saltire of Scotland, with +five roses in the centre point, and the inscription "For religion, +Covenants, king, and kingdomes" (Fig. 25). + + [Illustration: Fig. 25.--Flag of the Covenanters, A.D. 1679.] + +For the description of another of these flags of the Covenanters, to +which a more than usual interest attaches, we are indebted to the late +distinguished artist and archaeologist Mr. James Drummond, R.S.A.[34] +Mr. Drummond says it was known as "the Bluidy Banner," and it is +important as confirming a statement which had been disputed, namely, +that Hamilton of Preston, who commanded the Covenanters at the battle +of Bothwell Brig, gave out "No quarter" as the word of the day. +Hamilton himself, in his "Vindication," not only acknowledges this, +but boasts of it--"blessing God for it," he says, and "desiring to +bless his holy name that since he helped me to set my face to his +work, I never had nor would take a favour from mine enemies, either on +the right or left hand, and desire to give as few." But Wodrow denies +the statement--characterizing it as an unjust imputation on the +Covenanters, and in this he is followed by Dr. M'Crie. The discovery of +the flag, however, puts the matter beyond doubt. Mr. Drummond found it +in the possession of an old gentleman and his sister in East Lothian, +and it was only after much persuasion that he was allowed to see it and +take a drawing of it. On his asking the old lady why she objected to +show it to strangers, she said: "It's the Bluidy Banner, ye ken, and +what would the Roman Catholics say if they kenned that our forbears had +fought under such a bluidy banner." By Roman Catholics Mr. Drummond +understood her to include Episcopalians and all others of a different +religious persuasion from her own. The flag is of blue silk. The first +line of the inscription, which is composed of gilt letters, is in the +Hebrew language--"Jehovah Nissi"--the Lord is my banner. The next line +is painted in white--"For Christ and his truths;" and then come the +words, in a reddish or blood colour, "No quarters for y^e active enimies +of y^e Covenant." The detailed account given by the custodiers to Mr. +Drummond, left no doubt as to the authenticity of this flag. (See Plate +II.) + + [34] Paper read before the Society of Antiquarians of Scotland, + 14th June, 1859. + + [Illustration: PLATE II. + "THE BLUIDIE BANNER" CARRIED AT BOTHWELL BRIG. A.D. 1679.] + + + + + NATIONAL FLAGS. + + +But I must proceed to speak of our national flags. For a long time the +distinguishing flag of England has been a red cross on a white field. +The flag of Scotland is a white saltire (or St. Andrew's cross) on a +blue field, and what has come to be called the flag of Ireland is a red +saltire on a white field. But Ireland, strictly speaking, never had till +lately a national flag. The kings of Ireland previous to 1172 were not +hereditary but elective. They were chosen from among the petty kings, +and each king, when elected, brought with him and continued to use his +own standard. After the invasion of 1172 the standard of Ireland bore +three golden crowns on a blue field, and the three crowns appear on +ancient Irish coins. Henry VIII. relinquished this device for the harp, +from an apprehension, it is said, that the three crowns might be taken +for the triple crown of the pope; but the harp did not appear in the +royal standard till it was placed there by James I. Neither had St. +Patrick a cross. The cross-saltire, so far as it belongs to any saint, +is sacred to St. Andrew only. The origin of the Scottish saltire, +however, may possibly be found in the sacred monogram--the Greek X (CH), +the initial letter of our Lord's name as borne by the Emperor +Constantine, to which I have already referred. I do not know when the +Irish saltire was first introduced, as a national flag, but from the +early conquest of Ireland the Fitzgeralds have borne as their arms a red +saltire on a white field.[35] + + [35] _Heraldry of the Sea._ + + + + + THE UNION FLAG. + + +In 1603, on the union of the _crowns_ of England and Scotland, the first +union flag was formed by the combination of St. George's cross with the +saltire of Scotland; but this flag appears to have been used for ships +only. The order by the king for its construction and use bears to have +been made "in consequence of certain differences between his subjects of +North and South Britain anent the bearing of their flags;" and in the +proclamation issued in 1606, King James appoints that "from henceforth +all our subjects of this Isle and Kingdom of Great Britain shall bear in +the maintop the red cross commonly called St. George's Cross, and the +white cross commonly called St. Andrew's Cross, joined together +according to a form made by our heralds, and sent by us to our admiral +to be published to our said subjects." This was the first union flag. +The Scots being, however, sensitively jealous of England, insisted on +using their own national flag as well as the union, and it was no doubt +owing to this that the proclamation goes on to provide that "in their +foretop our subjects of South Britain shall wear the red cross only as +they were wont, and our subjects of North Britain in their foretop the +white cross only, as they were accustomed." In the ensign the union was +not worn till a considerable time afterwards--the union by itself being +then as now worn by the king's ships as a jack at the bowsprit. + +On the death of Charles I. the Commonwealth Parliament, professing to be +the Parliament of England only, and of Ireland as a dependency, expunged +the Scottish cross from the flag with its blue field. The flag of +command ordered to take the place of the union, and to be borne by the +admirals of the respective squadrons, at the main, fore, and mizen, is +described[36] as "the arms of England and Ireland in two escutcheons on +a red flag within a compartment or,"--that of the admiral, according to +Mr. Pepys, being encircled by a laurel wreath, while those of the vice +and rear-admirals were plain. The ensigns showed the Irish harp on the +fly.[37] + + [36] Order dated 5th March, 1649. + + [37] _Heraldry of the Sea_, p. 8. + +On the Restoration in 1660 the union flag was reintroduced, and when +England and Scotland became constitutionally united in 1707, this was +confirmed, with an order that it should be used "in all flags, banners, +standards, and ensigns, _both at sea and land_." The order in council +bears "that the flaggs be according to the draft marked C, wherein the +crosses of St. George and St. Andrew are conjoined;" but none of the +drafts appear in the Register. A representation of this flag will be +found in Plate III. No. I., and there being no draft to copy, I have +given it according to the verbal blazon, viz. azure a saltire argent +surmounted by a cross gules fimbriated of the second--that is, the St. +George's cross with a narrow white border. + +On the union with Ireland in the beginning of the present century the +Irish saltire was introduced. The St. George's cross remained as it was, +but the saltires of Scotland and Ireland were placed side by side, but +"counterchanged"--that is, in the first and third divisions or quarters, +the white, as senior, is uppermost, and in the second and fourth the red +is uppermost. The "verbal blazon," or written direction, is very +distinct, but in making the flag, or rather in showing pictorially how +it was to be represented, a singular and very absurd error occurred, +which, in the manufacture of our flags, has been continued to the +present day, and which it may be interesting to explain. + +The verbal blazon is contained in the minute by the king in council, and +in the proclamation which followed on it, issued on 1st of January, +1801. I need not give the technical words; suffice to say that the flag +is appointed to be blue, with the three crosses, or rather, the one +cross and two saltires combined. And, in order to meet a law in +heraldry, that colour is not to be placed on colour, or metal upon +metal, it is directed that where the red crosses of England and Ireland +come in contact with the blue ground of the flag, they are to be +"fimbriated"--that is, separated from the blue by a very narrow border +of one of the metals--in this case silver, or white. Of heraldic +necessity this border of both the red crosses fell to be of the same +breadth. To use the words of the written blazon, the St. George's cross +is to be "fimbriated _as the saltire_;" a direction so plain that the +merest tyro in heraldry could not fail to understand it, and be able to +paint the flag accordingly. + +Let me premise another thing. It is a universal rule in heraldry that +the verbal blazon, when such exists, is alone of authority. Different +artists may, from ignorance or from carelessness, express the drawing +differently from the directions before them, and this occurs every day; +but no one is or can be misled by that if he has the verbal blazon to +refer to. + +Now, in the important case of the Union flag it so happened that the +artist who, according to the practice usual in such cases, was +instructed to make a drawing of the flag on the margin of the king's +order in council, was either careless or ignorant or stupid. Most +probably he was all three, and here is how he depicted it. The +horizontal lines represent blue and the perpendicular red; the rest is +white. (See Fig. 26.) + + [Illustration: Fig. 26.--Union Flag as depicted A.D. 1801.] + +Now here, it will be observed, the red saltire of Ireland is +"fimbriated" white, according to the instructions; and this is done with +perfect accuracy, by the narrowest possible border. But the St. George's +cross, instead of being fimbriated in the same way--which the written +blazon expressly says it shall be--is not fimbriated at all. The cross +is placed upon a ground of white so broad that it ceases to be a border. +The practical effect of this, and its only heraldic meaning, is, that +the centre of the flag, instead of being occupied solely by the St. +George's cross, is occupied by _two crosses_, a white cross with a red +one superinduced on it. So palpable is this that Mr. Laughton, the +accomplished lecturer on naval history at the Royal Naval College, in a +lecture recently published, suggests that this is perhaps what was +really intended. "A fimbriation," he says, "is a narrow border to +prevent the unpleasing effect of metal on metal or colour on colour. It +should be as narrow as possible to mark the contrast. But the white +border of our St. George's cross is not, strictly speaking, a +fimbriation at all. It is a white cross of one-third the width of the +flag surmounted of a red cross." And his hypothesis is that this may +have been intended to commemorate a tradition of the combination of the +red cross of England with the white cross of France.[38] The suggestion +is ingenious and interesting, but it has clearly no foundation. There +might have been something to say for it had there been only the drawing +to guide us. In that case, indeed, the theory of Mr. Laughton, or some +one similar, would be absolutely necessary to account for the two +crosses. But Mr. Laughton overlooks the important facts, first, that we +possess in the verbal blazon distinct written instructions; secondly, +that where such exist no drawing which is at variance with them can +possess any authority; and lastly, that in this case the verbal blazon +not only is silent as to a second cross, but it expressly prescribes +that there shall be only one, that of St. George. To that nothing is to +be added--nothing, that is, but the narrow border or fimbriation +necessary to meet the heraldic requirement to separate it from the blue +ground of the flag, the same as is directed to be done, and as has been +done, with the saltire of Ireland. + + [38] _Heraldry of the Sea_, 1879. + +Some years ago I called the attention of the Admiralty to this +extraordinary blunder, and I pointed out then, just what Mr. Laughton +has done in his recent lecture, that the flag, as made, really shows two +crosses in the centre. The Admiralty referred the matter to Garter King +of Arms, but Sir Albert Woods, while he did not say a word in defence of +the arrangement, would not interfere. "The flag," he said, "was made +according to the drawing,"--which was too true--"and it was exhibited," +he added, "in the same way on the colours of the Queen's infantry +regiments;" and, naturally enough, he declined the responsibility of +advising a change. And so it remains. I may observe, however, that in +one, at least, of the Horse Guards' patterns, the arrangement of the +tinctures is not, as Sir Albert supposes, according to the original +drawing, and it is different from the pattern prescribed by the +Admiralty. I refer to the flag prescribed for the use of military +authorities "when embarked in boats or other vessels." In that flag, of +which an official copy is now before me, the fimbriation of the Irish +saltire is of much greater breadth than it is in the Admiralty flag, +while that saltire itself is considerably reduced in breadth. + +Besides the error in the border of the St. George's cross, the breadth +of the Irish saltire in all our flags, as now manufactured, is less than +that of the white cross of Scotland, which is clearly wrong. For obvious +reasons, and according to the written blazon, they ought to be the same. +Indeed, all the three crosses ought to be of the same breadth. So great, +however, is the difference in practice, that in the official Admiralty +Directions for the construction of a flag of given dimensions, while the +St. George's cross is appointed to be 18 inches in breadth, that of St. +Andrew is to be only 9 inches, and the Irish cross only 6--this last +being exactly the same as the breadth appointed for the border of the +cross of St. George! + +Figure II. of Plate III. shows the flag as made according to the +erroneous pattern now in use. Figure III. shows it as it ought to be, +and as it is appointed to be made by the distinct terms of the verbal +blazon, in the order by the king in council. But the breadth of the St. +George's cross I have left unaltered. + +It is to be hoped that heraldic propriety will prevail over a practice +originating in obvious error, and that our national flag will be flown +according to its true blazon. The correction would be very easily made. +The reduction of the breadth of the border of St. George's cross and the +slight increase in the width of the Irish saltire would be little +noticed, while, besides correcting obvious errors, it would have the +advantage of bringing the flag, in one important respect, into +conformity with the design as represented on the coinage. On the reverse +of our beautiful bronze coins the St. George's cross on Britannia's +shield is fimbriated as it ought to be, that is, by the narrow border +prescribed by the written blazon. + + [Illustration: UNION FLAGS AND PENDANT. PLATE III.] + + [Illustration: Fig. 27.] + +But if the penny is right in that respect, it exhibits another +extraordinary example of our slipshod heraldry, by a variation of a +different and more startling kind. My complaint against the flag, as +made, is, that it represents four crosses, but on the penny there are +only two. This was all right when the design was first made in the reign +of Charles II., but when the third cross was added to the flag the three +crosses should have appeared on the coin. A desire to adhere to the +original design cannot certainly be pleaded, for there have been many +changes in this figure of Britannia. She was first placed there by +Charles II. in honour of the beautiful Duchess of Richmond, who sat to +the sculptor for the figure. But her drapery on the coin of those days +was very scanty, and her semi-nude state was hardly in keeping with the +stormy waves beside which she was seated. Queen Anne, like a modest lady +as she was, put decent clothing on her, and made her stand upright, and +took away her shield, crosses and all. In the subsequent reigns she was +allowed to sit down again, and she got back her shield, with the trident +in her left hand and an olive-branch in the right. On the present +coinage--a copy of which (the penny) is shown in Fig. 27--the drapery of +Queen Anne is retained, but the figure is entirely turned round, and +faces the sinister side of the coin, instead of the dexter, as at first, +and the olive-branch (_absit omen_) has been taken away. But with all +these changes there remain only two crosses on the shield. The reader +will naturally suppose, however, that the omission consisted in not +adding the Irish saltire to that of Scotland, which had been there from +the first. But no. In this instance there was certainly no "injustice to +Ireland," for the extraordinary thing is, that the St. Andrew's cross +has been taken away altogether, and the saltire of Ireland, +distinguished by its fimbriated border, has been put in its place, +Scotland being not now represented on the coin at all. Of course this +has arisen from mere carelessness at the Mint, but it is an error which +ought to be at once corrected. + + + + + THE UNION JACK. + + +But to return to our flags. The Union Jack is a diminutive of the Union. +It is exclusively a ship flag, and, although of the same pattern as the +Union, it ought never to be called the Union _Jack_ except when it is +flown on the jack-staff,--a staff on the bowsprit or fore part of a +ship. It is extraordinary how little this distinction is understood. For +example, in the Queen's Regulations for the army a list of stations is +given at which it is directed that "the national flag, _the Union Jack_, +is authorized to be hoisted." And in a general order issued from the +North British Head Quarters as to the arrangements to be observed on a +recent occasion of the sitting of the General Assembly in Edinburgh, it +was stated that "the Union Jack" would be displayed from the Castle and +at the Palace of Holyrood. But the _Union Jack_ is never flown on shore. +The proper name of the national flag is _the Union_. It is the shore +flag, and, except personal flags, the only one which is displayed from +fortresses and other stations. + +At the Royal Arsenal and a few other stations the Union flag is +displayed daily. At others, such as Sandgate Castle and Rye, it is flown +only on anniversaries. At Tilbury, Edinburgh Castle, and other places, +it is hoisted on Sundays and anniversaries. And there are similar rules +for foreign stations. + +On board her Majesty's ships the Union is sometimes displayed, but only +on special occasions. It is hoisted at the mizen top-gallant-masthead +when the Queen is on board, the Royal Standard and the flag of the Lord +High Admiral being at the same time hoisted at the main and fore +top-gallant-mastheads respectively. And an Admiral of the Fleet hoists +the Union at the main top-gallant-masthead. The Army Regulations, +however, referring to the presence of the Queen on board ship, again +confound the two flags, and prescribe that a salute shall be fired by +forts whenever a ship passes showing the flags which indicate the +presence of the sovereign, and among these is specified "_the Union +Jack_ at the mizen top-gallant-masthead." If the commandant of a +fortress acted on this, her Majesty might pass every day of the year +without a salute, as he would certainly never see the Union _Jack_ in +that position. The mistake is the more curious as the Regulations +elsewhere distinguish the Union Jack from the Union by speaking of the +latter as the "Great Union." + +The Jack when flown from the mast with a white border is the signal for +a pilot. In this case it is called the Pilot Jack. When flown from the +bowsprit of a merchant ship it must also have a white border. + +It has been said that the term "Jack" is derived from the name of the +sovereign James I. (_Jacques_), in whose reign it was constructed. This +is the legend at the Admiralty, but it is of doubtful authority. The +Oxford Glossary says there is not a shadow of evidence for it, and +traces the word to the surcoat worn of old by the soldiery called a +_jacque_--whence jacket. But this also is doubtful. + +The Union, or junction of the three crosses, is used in other cases in +the royal navy, and also in the merchant service, not by itself, but in +certain combinations. + + + + + THE ENSIGN. + + +The flag under which all our ships now sail is the Ensign. + +In early times every chieftain or knight, whether serving in the field +or on board ship, had his own distinguishing flag, and if several +knights were embarked in one ship, the ship carried the flags of them +all. In one of the illuminations of the reign of Henry VI., the sides of +a ship are covered with shields, and in other examples armorial devices +are even shown painted on the sails. When engaged in any active service, +a ship would carry also the flag of the leader or admiral, and, in +addition to this, the emblem of some patron saint, depending in this on +the caprice or superstition of the owner. Besides these a ship usually +bore the flag of her port--a usage which, so far as merchant ships are +concerned, still holds among us in the practice of carrying what are +known as "house flags," though now strictly subordinated to that of +carrying the national ensign. With ships of other countries the usage +continued till comparatively lately. In France, down to the Revolution, +merchant ships flew the flag of their port more commonly than the flag +of France; as for instance, of Marseilles, white with a blue cross; or +of Dunkirk, barry of six argent and azure, with the alternative of the +old English white ensign, white with a small St. George's cross in the +upper corner next the hoist, derived from the English sovereignty in the +seventeenth century.[39] In the same way in the Baltic: in the +Netherlands almost every port had its own flag, and the free towns of +Germany till quite recently followed the same practice. It was the same +in England in early times--a sailor being more a sailor of his port than +of his country. + + [39] Laughton's _Heraldry of the Sea_. + +Now, as a rule, the ships of all countries sail under their national +colours. With us the flag under which all our ships sail is the Ensign, +of which there are three--the white, the blue, and the red. It is a +large flag of one of the colours named, with the Union in a square or +canton at the upper part of the hoist. I may explain that the portion of +a flag next the staff or rope from which it is flown is called the +hoist, the next is called the centre, and the outer portion the fly. +Besides the Union in the canton, the white ensign has the St. George's +cross extending over the whole field. + +Although the Union flag of Great Britain was appointed by royal order in +1606, it was not inserted in the Ensign till 1707. Previous to that the +Ensign bore only the English cross in the canton. + +In the royal navy, not always, but for some time previous to 1864, the +fleet consisted of three divisions called the White, the Blue, and the +Red Squadrons, each carrying its distinctive Ensign, and, latterly, each +having its admiral called after the colour of his flag. But till 1805 +there was no admiral of the Red. Previous to that the admiral commanding +in the centre flew at the main, not the red flag, but the Union. + +The first notice of the division of the fleet appears in a MS. report by +Mr. Pepys, secretary to the Admiralty, in which it is stated that in the +Duke of Buckingham's expedition against the Isle of Rhe in 1627 the +fleet was thus divided. The notice is interesting:--"The Duke now lying +at Portsmouth divided his Fleete into squadrons. Himselfe, Admirall and +Generall in Chiefe, went in y^e Triumph, bearing the standard of England +in y^e maine topp, and Admirall particular of the bloody colours. The +Earle of Lindsay was vice-Admirall to the Fleete in the Rainbowe, +bearing the king's usual colours in his fore topp, and a blew flag in +his maine topp, and was admiral of the blew colours. The Lord Harvey was +Rear Admirall in y^e Repulse bearing the king's usual colours in his +mizen, and a white flag in the maine topp, and was Admirall of y^e +squadron of white colours." In this instance it will be observed the +blue flag took precedence of the white. Under the Commonwealth the blue +was put down to the third place, and when on the Restoration the Union +flag was reintroduced, the precedence of the three colours remained as +it had been determined by the Commonwealth. The arrangement of the fleet +into three divisions continued till 1864; but it often proved puzzling +to foreigners, and it was found inconvenient in action. It was for this +last reason that Lord Nelson, on going into action at Trafalgar, ordered +the whole of his fleet to hoist the White Ensign, and it was under that +flag that that great victory was gained. + +During the wars of the seventeenth century the Dutch fleets were also +divided into three squadrons, distinguished, like the English, by the +three colours--orange or red, white, and blue, and both with them and in +our own service this was perhaps necessary when fleets consisted of such +a large number of ships--our own numbering often as many as 200 sail. +Latterly, when fleets were comparatively so much smaller, the +distinctive colours became of less importance, and in 1864 the +classification was discontinued. Now the White Ensign only is used by +all her Majesty's ships in commission. Previous to this it had been +ordered by royal proclamation, in 1801, that merchant ships should fly +only the Red Ensign, and this is still the rule; but since the three +divisions of the fleet were abolished, the Blue Ensign is allowed to be +used by British merchant ships when commanded by officers of the Royal +Naval Reserve, provided one-third of the crew be men belonging to the +Reserve. By permission of the Admiralty the Blue Ensign is also allowed +to be used by certain yacht clubs; and the members of one club--the +Royal Yacht Squadron--have liberty to use the White Ensign. + + + + + SPECIAL FLAGS. + + +The flag of the Lord High Admiral is crimson, having on it an anchor +and cable, and it is hoisted on any ship of which that high officer +is on board. It is also hoisted at the fore top-gallant-masthead of +every ship of which the Queen may be on board. The flag of an admiral +is white with the cross of St. George on it. It is only flown by an +admiral when employed afloat, and then at the main, fore, or mizen +top-gallantmast-head, according as he is a full, vice, or rear admiral. + +The Union flag and the Blue Ensign are, with the addition of certain +distinctive badges, used as personal flags by certain high officers, and +also in particular departments of the service. For example, the flag of +the Lord-lieutenant of Ireland is the Union with a blue shield in the +centre, charged with a golden harp. The Governor-general of India has +the Union with the Star of India in the centre surmounted by a crown, +and this also is the flag of British Burmah. British ministers, charges +d'affaires, fly the Union with the royal arms in the centre within a +circle argent surrounded by a wreath. Our consuls have the Blue Ensign +with the royal arms in the fly. There are also differences in the Union +or Ensign with distinctive badges for other offices and departments, and +for the Colonies. + + + + + THE PENDANT. + + +The Pendant is a well-known flag in ships of war. It is of two kinds, +the long and the broad. The first is a long, narrow, tapering flag--the +usual length being twenty yards, while it is only four inches broad at +the head. An Admiralty Memorandum regarding the history of our flags +bears that the origin of the long Pendant is generally understood to +have been this:--After the defeat of the English fleet under Blake, by +the Dutch fleet under Van Tromp, in 1652, the latter cruised in the +Channel with a broom at the mast-head of his ship, to signify that he +had swept his enemies off the sea. In the following year the English +fleet defeated the Dutch, whereupon the admiral commanding hoisted a +long streamer from his mast-head to represent the lash of a whip, +signifying that he had whipped his enemies off the sea. Hence the +Pendant, which has been flown ever since. This certainly has been the +popular tradition, and the English admiral may, on the occasion referred +to, have adopted a flag of the description and for the purpose +mentioned, but it was not altogether a new form of flag. In the Tudor +MS. we find a description of a long tapering flag of somewhat the same +description. It is called a Streamer, and is appointed to "stand in the +top of a ship or in the forecastle, and therein is to be put no armes +but a man's conceit or device, and may be of length 20, 30, 40, or 60 +yards, and is slitt as well as a guydhomme or standard." From this +description the streamer would appear to have been a personal flag +bearing "the conceit or device"--crest, badge, or motto--of the owner. + +As now used in our navy the long pendant is of two colours--one white +with a red cross in the part next the mast; the other blue with a red +cross on a white ground. The first is flown from the mast-head of all +her Majesty's ships in commission, when not otherwise distinguished by a +flag or broad pendant. The other is worn at the masthead of all armed +vessels in the employ of the government of a British colony. (See Plate +III. No. IV.) + +The broad pendant or "burgee" is a flag tapering slightly and of a +swallow-tailed shape at the fly. It is white with a red St. George's +cross, and is flown only by a commodore, or the senior officer of a +squadron, to distinguish his ship. If used by a commodore of the first +class it is flown at the main top-gallant-masthead. Otherwise it is +flown at the top-gallant-masthead. + + + + + SIGNALS AND OTHER FLAGS. + + +Signal flags are those which are used for communication between ships at +sea. In the system instituted by James II. intelligence was communicated +or messages interchanged by a confused number of flags exhibited at +different parts of the ship. Now, signalling has been reduced to a +complete system. The flags are of various shapes and colours, each flag +representing a letter or number, and by a recent arrangement a universal +code has been adopted by which vessels of different nations can now +communicate. + +A flag of truce is white, both at sea and on land, but on board ship it +is customary to hoist with it the national flag of the enemy--the white +flag at the main and the enemy's ensign at the fore. On one occasion +during the war in 1814 when the French frigate _Clorinde_ was about to +be attacked by the British frigate _Dryad_, the commander of the former, +being desirous to ascertain what terms would be granted in case he +surrendered, hoisted French colours aft and English colours forward. +Under cover of this the French frigate sent a boat with the message. The +answer was a refusal to grant any terms, but the boat was allowed to +return to the French frigate in safety before the _Dryad_ filled and +stood towards her. + +The Ensign and Pendant at half-mast are the recognised signs of +mourning. Sometimes also it is an expression of mourning to set the +yards at what seamen call "a-cock-bill," that is all the yards topped up +different ways on each mast; but this is chiefly done by foreigners, +who, on Good Friday and other occasions, set their yards thus. It is +also customary as a sign of mourning to paint the white lines of a ship +of a blue colour. In older times, when ships were more gaudily painted +and gilded than they are now, they were painted black all over as a sign +of mourning. + +The red or bloody flag is a signal of mutiny, and as such it was +displayed in our own navy on two noted occasions in the end of last +century, when the fleet at Spithead mutinied, and afterwards that at +the Nore. In the latter case the mutineers hauled down the flag of +Vice-admiral Buckner and in its stead hoisted the red flag. It is a +singular fact, however, and characteristic of the British seaman, that +on the 4th of June, the king's birth-day, while the mutiny was at its +height, the whole fleet, with the exception of one ship, evinced its +loyalty by firing a royal salute, and displaying the colours usual on +such occasions, the red flag being struck during the ceremony, and only +re-hoisted when it was over.[40] + + [40] James' _Naval History_, ii. p. 73. + +The yellow flag is the signal of sickness and of quarantine. + + + + + USE OF FLAGS IN NAVAL WARFARE. + + +Such are the principal naval flags. Of the circumstances in which they +may or may not be legitimately used, especially in naval warfare, some +interesting stories might be told. + +Although it is prohibited to merchant ships to carry the colours used in +the navy, this may be done in time of war to deceive an enemy. I may +mention one instance when it was practised with happy effect. In the +French war in 1797 the French Rear-admiral Sarcy, when cruising with six +frigates in the Bay of Bali, came in sight of five of our Indiamen--one +of them, the _Woodford_, Captain Lennox. They were homeward bound, and +all richly laden, and to all appearance they had no chance of escape, +when Captain Lennox rescued them by an act of great judgment and +presence of mind. He first of all hoisted in his own ship a flag which +the French admiral knew well--that of the British Admiral Rainier, blue +at the mizen, and he made all the other ships in his company hoist +pendants and ensigns to correspond. But he did more. He detached two of +the Indiamen to chase and reconnoitre the enemy; and as these advanced +towards the French reconnoitring frigate the _Cybele_, the latter, +completely deceived, made all sail to join her consorts with the signal +at her mast-head--"The enemy is superior in force to the French." On +this the French admiral, believing that he was in the presence of a +powerful British squadron, made off with his frigates under all sail, +and Captain Lennox and his consorts completed their voyage in safety. +When Admiral Sarcy discovered afterwards the ruse that had been +practised on him, and which had lost him a prize of such great value, +his mortification may be imagined. + +In going into action it is the custom with the ships of all nations to +hoist their national colours. Nelson at Trafalgar carried this to +excess, for he hoisted several flags lest one should be shot away. The +French and Spaniards went to the opposite extreme, for they hoisted no +colours at all, till late in the action, when they began to feel the +necessity of having them to strike.[41] Nelson on that occasion ran his +ship on board the _Redoubtable_, a large seventy-four gun ship, and +fought her at such close quarters that the two ships touched each other. +Twice Nelson gave orders to cease firing at his opponent, supposing she +had surrendered, because her great guns were silent, and as she carried +no flag there was no means of instantly ascertaining the fact. It was +from the ship which he had thus twice spared that Nelson received his +death wound. The ball was fired from the mizen-top, which, so close were +the ships, was not more than fifteen yards from the place where he was +standing. Soon afterwards the _Redoubtable_, finding further resistance +impossible, hoisted her flag, only to haul it down again in sign of +surrender, within twenty minutes after the fatal shot had been fired. In +this great battle each of the Spanish ships had in addition to her +ensign a large wooden cross hung to the end of her spanker boom. + + [41] Southey's _Life of Nelson_. + +When a ship surrenders the fact is usually intimated by her hauling down +her flag, but in Lord Cochrane's spirited attack on the French fleet in +Basque Roads in 1809, two of the French ships, the _Varsovie_ and +_Aquilon_, made the token of submission by each showing a Union Jack in +her mizen chains; and in other instances during the war French ships +hoisted a Union Jack as the signal of their having struck. + +Of course when a ship has surrendered the fire of both ships ceases. In +an action off Lissa between British ships and a Franco-Venetian +squadron, the French ship _Flore_ surrendered to the British frigate +_Amphion_. Immediately afterwards the Venetian frigate _Bellona_ bore up +and commenced a heavy fire against the _Amphion_, and some of the shot +struck the captured ship on the other side. Supposing, erroneously, that +the shot came from the British ship, one of the officers of the _Flore_, +in order to make more clear the fact of her having absolutely +surrendered, took the French ensign, halliards and all, and holding them +up in his hand over the taffrail to attract the attention of the +_Amphion's_ people, threw the whole into the sea. Having captured the +_Bellona_ also, the captain of the _Amphion_ temporarily left the +surrendered ship while he pursued another of the enemy, the _Corona_, +which he also captured. When thus engaged, however, he was mortified to +see his first prize, the _Flore_, notwithstanding her emphatic act of +submission, dishonourably stealing away, and she actually effected her +escape into the harbour of Lessina. Captain Hoste, who commanded the +British squadron, afterwards sent a letter by a flag of truce to the +captain of the _Flore_, demanding restitution of the frigate in the same +state as when she struck her flag and surrendered to the _Amphion_; but +the commander of the French squadron replied by a letter, neither signed +nor dated, denying that the _Flore_ had struck, and falsely asserting +that the colours had been shot away. The letter was sent back and the +demand repeated, but no answer was returned. + +I may mention another instance in which captured colours were thrown +into the sea in token of surrender under different circumstances, but +not more creditable to the vanquished party. In the war between America +and the Barbary States in the early part of the century, the United +States schooner _Enterprise_, under the command of Lieutenant Sterrett, +fell in with and engaged a Tripolitan polacre ship, and in the course of +the action the colours of the latter were either shot away or struck--in +all probability the latter, for the Americans believed she had +surrendered and quitted their guns. The Corsair, however, re-hoisted her +flag and continued the action. Thereupon the _Enterprise_ poured in so +destructive a fire that her opponent this time unequivocally hauled down +her colours, and Lieutenant Sterrett ordered her under his lee quarter. +This order was obeyed, but the Tripolitan, when he got there, thinking +his position favourable, re-hoisted the red flag, and having poured +another broadside into the _Enterprise_, prepared to board. The +Americans, justly incensed at this treacherous act, delivered a raking +broadside which effectually terminated the affair. The Tripolitan +captain now abjectly implored the quarter which he had justly forfeited, +and bending over the waist barricade of his ship, and as an indication +of his sincerity, raised his colours in his arms and threw them into the +sea. + +In contrast to the conduct of the captain of the _Flore_ in carrying off +his ship after he had surrendered, may be mentioned the very different +course taken by the officer in command of a French 40-gun frigate, the +_Renommee_, which was captured off Madagascar in 1811, after an action +between a French squadron, and a British squadron under Captain +Schomberg. From the state of the British ships after the action, Captain +Schomberg, when night was coming on, could only send on board the prize +a lieutenant of marines and four seamen, in a sinking boat. At this time +the _Renommee_ had a crew of nearly 400 effective officers and men, and +they could have had at once retaken the ship and got off during the +night. The crew wished to do so, but Colonel Barrois, who--the captain +having been killed--was now, according to the etiquette of the French +service, the commanding officer, acting on a high principle of honour, +refused to give his sanction, as they had surrendered by striking their +flag. The lieutenant and his few hands remained accordingly in quiet +possession of the prize, till the prisoners were taken out next morning, +and a proper prize crew placed on board. + +When an action takes place at night, when flags cannot be seen, other +modes of intimating surrender have to be reverted to. In the war with +America, in 1815, when a British ship in a disabled state found she had +no alternative but to surrender at midnight to an American ship of +superior force, she did so by firing a lee gun and hoisting a light. In +another case a French frigate, the _Nereide_, after a severe action +during night with the British frigate _Phoebe_, surrendered to the +latter by hauling down a light she had been carrying, and hailing that +she surrendered. In another case a French ship intimated the fact of her +surrender by hoisting a light and instantly hauling it down. + +When a ship has surrendered and is taken possession of, the captor +hoists his ensign over that of the enemy. In one instance a mistake in +this produced disastrous results. In the celebrated capture of the +_Chesapeake_ off Boston in 1813, when the American flag was struck, the +officer of the _Shannon_ who was sent on board the _Chesapeake_ to take +possession, inadvertently--owing to the halliards being tangled--bent +the English flag below the American ensign instead of above it. By this +time the two ships were drifting apart, and when the _Shannon's_ people +saw the American stripes going up first they concluded that their +boarding party had been overpowered, and at once reopened their fire, by +which their first-lieutenant and several of their own men were killed. +The mistake was discovered before the flags had got halfway to the mizen +peak, when they were hauled down and hoisted properly. In this brilliant +but short action--for between the discharge of the first gun and the +conclusion of the fight only fifteen minutes elapsed--the American ship, +by way of display, carried more than the ordinary number of flags. She +flew three ensigns, one at the mizen, one at the peak, and one, the +largest of all, in the starboard main rigging. She had besides, flying +at the fore, a large white flag inscribed with the words "Sailors' +Rights and Free Trade," with the intention, it was supposed, of damping +the energy of the _Shannon's_ men by this favourite American motto. The +_Shannon_ had the Union at the fore and an old rusty blue ensign at the +mizen peak, and besides these she had one ensign on the main stay and +another in the main rigging, both rolled up and "stopped" ready to be +cast loose in case either of the other flags should be shot away. + +A similar display of flags occurred on the occasion of the encounter off +Valparaiso in 1814 between the British 36-gun frigate _Phoebe_ and the +United States 32-gun frigate _Essex_, which resulted in the capture of +the latter. Captain Porter, who commanded the American ship, made an +attempt, as in the case of the _Chesapeake_, on the loyalty of the +_Phoebe's_ seamen, by hoisting at his fore top-gallant-mast head the +stock motto, "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights." This, in a short time, +the British ship answered with the St. George's ensign and the motto, +"God and Country--British sailors' best rights: Traitors offend them." +Subsequently the _Essex_ hoisted her motto flag at the fore, and another +on the mizen mast, with one American ensign at the mizen peak and a +second lashed on the main rigging. Not to be outdone in decorations the +British ship hoisted her motto flag with a profuse display of ensigns +and union jacks, and all these were flying when the American ship was +captured. + +To hoist false colours in time of war in order to entice an enemy within +reach has always been considered legitimate, but it is not allowable to +engage, or to commit any hostile act, under them. While it is considered +legitimate to mislead, however, it is not legitimate to cheat. An +example of what might appear to be a distinction without a difference is +afforded by a case which occurred in 1783, when the French ship +_Sybille_, a powerful 36-gun frigate, was sighted off Cape Henry by the +_Hussar_ of 28 guns. The _Sybille_ had, a few days before, had a drawn +fight with one of our ships of the same force, and, in consequence of +injuries she had then received, had been dismasted in a puff of wind, +and was under jury masts. As she was unable to chase the _Hussar_, she +sought to entice her alongside, in order to take her by boarding, and +accordingly she hoisted at the peak the French ensign under the English, +as if she had been captured. All this was legitimate, and the _Hussar_ +might or might not have been deceived by it. But the French captain did +something more. He hoisted in the main shrouds an English ensign +reversed, and tied in a weft or loop. Now this was a well-known signal +of distress--an appeal to a common humanity, which no English officer +was ever known to disregard, and the _Hussar_ closed at once. But +fortunately her crew were at quarters, and the _Sybille_, hauling down +the English flag at the peak and hoisting the French above, endeavoured +to run her on board. Her extreme rolling, however, steadied by no +sufficient sail, exposed her bottom, and several shots from the _Hussar_ +went through her very bilge. By this time another of our ships, the +_Centurion_ of 50 guns, had come up, and the _Sybille_ struck her +flag--the reversed ensign with its weft, so dishonourably hoisted, +remaining in the main shrouds. The English officer who took possession +sent the French captain on board the _Hussar_, and he presented his +sword to Captain Russell on the quarterdeck. Russell took the sword, +broke it across, and threw it on the deck; and sending the Frenchman +below, kept him in close confinement in the hold till his arrival in +port some days later.[42] + + [42] Laughton's _Heraldry of the Sea_. + +I may mention another case where a legitimate ruse was successfully +practised on an enemy by our great naval commander, Lord Cochrane. It +occurred in the early part of his brilliant career, when he was cruising +in the Mediterranean in his little brig the _Speedy_. This small craft, +under her daring and skilful commander, had made herself so much an +object of terror by the many captures she had made that a Spanish +frigate, heavily armed, was fitted out and sent after her. In order to +get near the _Speedy_ the Spaniard was disguised as a merchantman. For +the same reason, Lord Cochrane, to lull suspicion and enable him to get +near the merchant craft of the enemy, had also disguised his small +vessel, and was sailing as a merchant brig under Danish colours. +Perceiving the supposed Spanish merchantman, Lord Cochrane at once gave +chase, and he only discovered his mistake when his formidable antagonist +opened her ports and showed her teeth. At the same time the Spaniard +lowered a boat to go on board the _Speedy_ and see what she was. +Discovery and capture were apparently now unavoidable, but Lord Cochrane +was equal to the occasion. Hoisting the yellow flag--the dreaded signal +of sickness and quarantine--he made straight for the frigate, and, +having dressed a petty officer in Danish uniform, on the gangway, he +ordered him to hail the boat with the intimation that they were out just +two days from Algiers, where it was well known the plague was then +violently raging. This was enough. The boat pulled back, and the frigate +at once filled and proceeded on her course. + +It was a narrow escape; yet the crew of the _Speedy_ complained loudly +that they had not been allowed to fight the frigate! They had been +admirably trained, and had implicit confidence in their brave commander, +and thought he was equal to anything. Lord Cochrane was not a man to +disregard murmurs uttered in such a direction, and he told them that if +they really wanted a fight they would get it with the first enemy they +came across, whatever she might be. They had not long to wait before +they fell in with a large Spanish zebec, the _Gamo_, which, to the +astonishment of the big ship, Lord Cochrane immediately attacked. A +fight with the guns could not have lasted long, for the Spanish ship +carried 30 heavy guns with a crew of upwards of 300 men, while the +_Speedy_ had only 14 four-pounders and a crew of 54 all told. Lord +Cochrane, therefore, notwithstanding this immense disparity of force, +determined, as his only chance, to board the frigate, and this he +succeeded in doing, taking his entire crew with him and leaving only the +surgeon at the wheel. A deadly hand-to-hand conflict ensued, when, just +as his small band were nearly overpowered, Lord Cochrane ordered one of +his men to haul down the Spanish colours. This was promptly done, and +the Spaniards--their commander having been killed--thinking that their +own officers had struck, ceased fighting, and Lord Cochrane became +master of the frigate. How to take care of his numerous prisoners was +not a small difficulty, but he succeeded in doing so, and brought his +prize safely into Port Mahon. It was one of the most brilliant affairs +in the glorious life of this great seaman. + +Another interesting example of an enemy's ship being taken in +consequence of her colours being hauled down, not by her own officers +but by the party assailing, occurred at a much earlier period in an +action between the British and Dutch fleets off the English coast. A +runaway boy--Thomas Hopson--an apprentice to a tailor in the Isle of +Wight, had just before come on board the admiral's ship as a volunteer. +In the midst of the action he asked a sailor how long the fight would +continue, and was told that it would only cease when the flag of the +Dutch admiral was hauled down. The boy did not understand about the +striking of colours, but he thought if the hauling down of the flag +would stop the fight it might not be difficult to do. As the ships were +engaged yard-arm and yard-arm, and veiled in smoke, Hopson at once ran +up the shrouds, laid out on the mizen-yard of his own ship, and having +gained that of the Dutch admiral he speedily reached the +top-gallant-mast head and possessed himself of the Dutch flag, with +which he succeeded in returning to his own deck. Perceiving the flag to +be struck the British sailors raised a shout of victory, and the Dutch +crew, also deceived, ran from their guns. While the astonished admiral +and his officers were trying in vain to rally their crew the English +boarded the ship and carried her. For this daring service the boy was at +once promoted to the quarter-deck, and he rose to be a distinguished +admiral under Queen Anne. + + + + + INTERNATIONAL USAGE AS TO FLAGS. + + +In time of peace it is considered an insult to hoist the flag of one +friendly nation over that of another. This has given rise to an order +that national flags are not to be used for decoration or in dressing +ships. This order has reference more particularly to two flags, which +are in ordinary use as signal flags. One of these is the French +tricolour, but with the red and blue transposed; the other is the Dutch +flag turned upside down, and there are two pendants to match. An +unintentional departure from this rule gave rise to some unpleasantness +on one occasion in the early part of this century. On the 23d of April, +1819, the English frigate _Euryalus_, lying at St. Thomas in the West +Indies, had dressed ship in honour of St. George's day--the fete of the +Prince Regent--and in doing so had made use of the blue, white, and red +flag, which four years before had been the national flag of France. A +three-coloured pennant hung down from the spanker boom and trailed in +the water, and another three-coloured flag was at the lower end of the +line pendant from the flying boom. This was observed by the French +Rear-admiral Duperre, who was there in the _Gloire_, and he demanded and +received apologies for what he conceived to be an insult offered to a +flag which had lately been the flag of France, and under which he and +many of his officers and men had served.[43] + + [43] _Heraldry of the Sea_, p. 28. + +If a foreign flag is hoisted on shore--as it often is in compliment to +some distinguished stranger--it must have the staff to itself. In 1851, +when the queen of Louis Philippe visited Oban, the proprietor of the +Caledonian Hotel, at which she resided, in compliment to his visitor, +and in ignorance, no doubt, of the proprieties of the case, hoisted the +French flag over the Union. This excited the indignation of an old +pensioner, John Campbell, who had been a sergeant in the 71st +Highlanders--the regiment of Campbell of Lochnell--and he went to the +innkeeper and demanded that matters should be put right. As no attention +was paid to his remonstrance, he then and there cut down the French +flag, and dared the innkeeper to hoist it again in that manner. The +residents in Oban were so pleased with Campbell's spirited conduct that +they presented him with a silver-headed stick. + +In gun practice it is also held to be an insult to take as a mark the +flag of another nation, and sometimes unintentional offence has been +given through mistakes about the flags in such circumstances. For the +following I am indebted to a distinguished naval officer who was +cognizant of the circumstances. Some twenty years ago, when the French +had an army of occupation in Syria, and their fleet and ours were lying +amicably together at Beyrout, some of the English ships having occasion +to practise the men with their rifles, put out their respective +targets--which generally consisted of bits of old flags fastened to a +stick, and stuck in a small cask anchored off at the required +distance--and commenced firing. Presently a boat with a superior officer +was seen pulling in hot haste from the French flagship. It afterwards +transpired that the boat was conveying a polite request that the English +would refrain from firing on the French flag--the officer at the same +time pointing to an exceedingly dirty piece of bunting which was being +riddled by the bullets from one of her Majesty's ships. "That's not the +French flag," was the answer of the English. "Yes, I assure you," the +Frenchman replied, "we are nearer than you are, and can see the colours. +And, pardon me," he added, "another of your ships is at the present +moment, in this Turkish port, firing on the Turkish flag"--pointing at +the same time to another target, consisting of a faded bit of red +bunting. Inquiries were made, and what had been taken for the Tricolour +was found to be a piece of an old condemned Union Jack, that had +unfortunately been nailed on to the staff without due regard to the +position of the colours, while the so-called Turkish flag was discovered +to be a fragment of an old English red ensign. + +To the same naval officer I am indebted for the following amusing +incident, which I am glad to give in his own words, as he was personally +concerned in it. "About the same time," he writes, "another occurrence +of the same kind took place at Larnaca, in Cyprus. It happily ended +well, but at one time it looked quite serious. One of our surveying +vessels had taken advantage of a lull in the work to practise her crew +with her formidable armament of two twenty-four pounders, and on a +bright calm Mediterranean morning the gunner was sent for by the senior +lieutenant, and directed to prepare a target. But here there arose a +difficulty. The ship had been a long time from Malta, stores of all +kinds were scarce, and of old bunting there was absolutely none. The +gunner was in despair, but a marine came to the rescue, and offered his +pocket-handkerchief as a substitute. It was about the usual size of such +articles, and as it had been bought at Malta while disturbances were +pending at Naples, it had the Italian colours, green, white, and red, +together with a pendant, printed on it, and on the white part some +patriotic sentences in Italian. The whole presented an ancient and faded +appearance, but the gunner accepted it with thanks. + +"So it was duly nailed on a staff stuck into a small cask, and anchored +about 600 yards to seaward. After the firing from the howitzers was +finished the men were ordered to fire on it with rifles, which for a +time they did. While this was going on a small French brig happened to +be lying in the roads, and during the forenoon a boat was observed +pulling from her in the direction of the target, but it did not venture +very close; the firing was not suspended, and nothing further was +thought about it. Before going to dinner in the middle of the day, a +boat was sent to examine the target to see if it would float, as it was +intended to continue the practice in the afternoon, and although it was +reported to have been knocked about a good deal, it was thought it might +remain afloat as long as it would be required, and so it was left. About +an hour afterwards, however, it disappeared, and went to the bottom. + +"The lieutenant, who had been weary with his work and had gone to bed +early, was much astonished at being sent for by the captain about +midnight. A formal despatch from our consul had come on board, inclosing +a communication from the French representative giving a detailed account +of what was described as a gross insult to the French flag, perpetrated +by H.M.S. ----, and demanding all kinds of apologies. The prime mover in +the affair, it appeared, was a certain captain Napoleon something, the +commander of the little brig. His story was that he had seen with +indignation the flag of his country--in size six feet square by his +account--carried out by an English man-of-war boat, and deliberately +fired upon. He and his crew, he said, had got into their boat determined +to rescue the desecrated ensign, 'even at the risk of their lives,' but +on getting near they had thought better of it, and pulled ashore +instead. Here he had collected all the French residents he could get, +whom he harangued, and having persuaded them that the scarcely visible +speck was in truth their national flag, he got them to sign a strongly +worded protest, and go with it along with him in a body to the French +consul. Reparation, they said, must be made--the insulted flag must be +saluted. So great was the excitement and so plausible the story that the +French consul, pending negotiations, sent to Beyrout requiring the +immediate presence of a French man-of-war. In fact there was all the +groundwork of a very pretty row. Meantime the cause of all the commotion +was lying at the bottom of the sea, with five or six fathoms of water +over it. A written explanation of the circumstance was sent from the +ship, and a meeting arranged for next day at the English consulate; and +in the meantime a number of boats were sent early in the morning to try +and fish up the bone of contention, as without it there was only the +English word against the French. At the consulate there was a stormy +meeting--much hard swearing and vociferation on the part of the French +captain and his crew, with the affidavits of any number of respectable +French residents, formally drawn up and signed. Everybody was getting +very angry, and prospect of an amicable settlement there was none, when +in a momentary lull the English lieutenant asked the French captain--who +had for the fiftieth time declared that it _was_ a French flag, and six +feet square at least--'whether it was likely that he knew more about it +than the marine who had blown his nose with it for the last six months.' +This in some measure restored good humour. The meeting separated in a +more friendly spirit than had at first seemed possible, and when, on the +following day, a lucky cast of the grapnel brought to the surface the +innocent cause of the disturbance, there was an end of the matter. Torn +by bullets, draggled and wet as it was, the wretched handkerchief was +borne in triumph to the French consulate, and of course there was no +more to be said. The consul made the proper _amende_, and the +man-of-war, which actually appeared from Beyrout a few hours afterwards +to vindicate the honour of the French flag, returned to her anchorage." + +I shall just add one more incident of the same kind, for which I am +indebted to another naval officer. In 1879 an English corvette visited +Tahiti. The island, being under French protection, flies a special flag, +and as it is one which is not supplied to English men-of-war, it is +usual, when it is necessary for them to salute, to borrow a protectorate +flag from the authorities. On the occasion in question, accordingly, the +flag was sent off by the governor's aide-de-camp (a naval officer) on +the evening of the corvette's arrival at Papeite, and the flag having +been hoisted on the following morning, the salute was duly fired. But +the display of the flag caused a terrible commotion on shore. On such +occasions the whole population turns out to see the salute, and the +beach of the beautiful land-locked, or rather reef-inclosed, harbour was +crowded with French and Tahitians watching the corvette, which was +moored close under the town. The cause of the commotion was that the +flag had been improperly made, so that in hoisting it the French ensign, +by pure inadvertence, appeared underneath that of Tahiti. The +indignation of the French was great, and they hastened to complain to +the governor that their flag had been deliberately insulted by her +Majesty's ship. The mistake, fortunately, lay entirely with the +authorities on shore. It was only on hauling it down that the officer in +command found it had been caused by the flag being improperly +constructed, the technical explanation being that the distance line had +been sewed in, the wrong way, with the taggle towards the bottom of the +flag--a very trifling thing in itself, but which, if unexplained, might +have led to serious consequences. Of course the flag was immediately +sent to the governor with the explanation, and there was an end of it. +So much for naval flags. + + + + + FLAGS OF THE BRITISH ARMY. + + +I have already noticed incidentally some of the flags used in the armies +of England in early times. Those used in the latter part of the +thirteenth century, and early in the fourteenth, were, besides those of +the knights and bannerets, the Royal Standard and the banners of St. +George, of St. Edmund, and of St. Edward. Subsequently various changes +took place which it is unnecessary to follow. + +At present in the British army every regiment of infantry has two flags. +They are both made of silk, in this differing from sea flags, which are +usually made of bunting. With the exception of the Foot Guards, the +first or Queen's colours of every regiment is the Union or National +Flag, with the imperial crown in the centre, and the number of the +regiment beneath in gold. The second or regimental colours are, with +certain exceptions, of the colour of the facing of the regiment, with +the Union in the upper corner. The second colours of all regiments bear +the devices or badges and distinctions which have been conferred by +royal authority. Fig. 28 is a representation of the regimental or second +colours of the first battalion of the 24th Regiment, for which I am +indebted to the courtesy of Sir Albert Woods. It will serve as an +example of the regimental colours of other regiments. The pole, it will +be observed, is surmounted by the royal crest, and this is common to all +regiments carrying colours. The ground of the flag is grass green. The +crown and wreath are "proper," that is of the natural colours. The +scrolls are gold with black letters. + + [Illustration: Fig. 28.--Regimental Colours of First Battalion of + 24th Regiment.] + +The first or royal colours of the Foot Guards are crimson, and bear +certain special distinctions besides those authorized for the second +colours--the whole surmounted by the imperial crown. The second, or +regimental colours, of the Foot Guards is the Union, with one of the +ancient badges conferred by royal authority. The first battalion of the +Scots Fusilier Guards possesses the high distinction of carrying on +their first colours the royal arms of Scotland. + + [Illustration: Fig. 29.--Queen's Colours of the First Battalion of + 24th Regiment.] + +The colours of infantry are as a rule carried by the two junior +lieutenants, and our military annals present many examples of devoted +heroism by the standard-bearers in defence of their charge. Among such +incidents few are more interesting than the loss and recovery of the +Queen's colours of the first battalion of the 24th Regiment in the +African campaign of 1878-79, to which I have already referred. It will +be recollected that Lieutenants Melville and Coghill, after crossing the +river Tugela with the Queen's colours, were overtaken and attacked by +overwhelming numbers and shot down. They died bravely, revolvers in +hand, but their pursuers failed to get possession of their precious +charge--the colours having been found near them when the bodies were +recovered. The Queen was much affected by this incident, and bestowed on +the young heroes after death the highest distinction for valour in her +power--the Victoria cross. On the arrival of the colours in England the +Queen expressed a wish to see them, and they were taken to Osborne, +where her Majesty tied on them a small wreath of immortelles as a mark +of her deep sense of the heroism of the two young officers who gave +their lives to save the flag. Fig. 29 shows the colours in the state in +which they were, when presented to the Queen, with the wreath placed +upon them by her Majesty. + +The colours of the second battalion of the 24th had been left in camp +when the troops advanced to meet the Zulus, and they were consequently +captured. No trace of them could be found till some time afterwards when +the pole with its crown was recovered by a party of the 17th Lancers in +a Zulu kraal near Ulundi. This remnant continued to be carried by the +regiment for upwards of a year, when new colours were presented to them +at Gibraltar on behalf of the Queen by Lord Napier of Magdala. The old +colours, or rather their pole with the crown, were first trooped. The +new colours were then uncovered, and, after consecration, +presented--Lord Napier stating that her Majesty knew very well that the +flag had not been lost through any default of the battalion, but only in +consequence of their having been placed in camp when the battalion went +to the front under the general commanding. + +The presentation of new colours with the accompanying consecration +service is an interesting ceremony. As the form may not be generally +known, I shall describe a recent one when new colours were presented by +the Prince of Wales to the first battalion of the 23d Regiment (the +Royal Welsh Fusiliers) on their embarkation for India. It is specially +interesting in connection with the history of the old ragged colours +which were then superseded. They had been presented by the late Prince +Consort thirty-one years before, and in the Crimea they were the first +which were planted on the heights of the Alma. Two lieutenants were +successively shot while holding them, and they were finally seized by +Sergeant O'Connor, who, though wounded, held them aloft and rallied the +regiment. For this service he was decorated with the Victoria cross. +Shortly afterwards he received his commission, and subsequently he +became colonel of the battalion. On the recent arrival of the troops at +Portsmouth they were drawn up on the military recreation ground, and the +Prince and Princess of Wales having taken their place at the saluting +point, the regiment marched past, headed by the goat which always +accompanies it. The old colours were then trooped and conveyed to the +rear, and three sides of a square having been formed, with a pyramid of +the drums in the centre, the new colours were uncased. The royal party +then advanced, and the senior chaplain of the regiment read the +Consecration service. The Queen's colours and the regimental colours +were then handed to the prince, and he presented them to the two +lieutenants who received them kneeling. The prince having spoken a few +appropriate words, and the colonel having replied, the colours were +saluted by the whole regiment. Another march past, and the presentation +of the officers to the prince, concluded the ceremony. + +In the cavalry the standards of regiments of Dragoon Guards are of +crimson silk damask, embroidered and fringed with gold, and their +guidons, anciently called "guydhomme"--a swallow-tailed flag--are of +crimson silk. Each is inscribed with the peculiar devices, distinctions, +and mottoes of the regiment. The standards and guidons of cavalry are +carried by troop sergeant-majors. The Hussars and Lancers have no +standards. They were discontinued, for what reason I do not know, by +William IV., and their badges and devices are now borne on their +appointments. Neither the Royal Engineers nor the Rifles have colours. +Neither have the Royal Artillery; nor is it necessary that they should +have any on which to record special services, for the Artillery is +represented in every action. Their appropriate motto, _Ubique_, is borne +on their appointments. None of the Volunteer regiments carries colours. + +The queen's and regimental colours always parade with the regiment. On +march they are cased, but they are always uncased when carried into +action. + +For military authorities "when embarked in boats or other vessels," +there is, as we have seen, a special flag. It is the Union with the +royal initials in the centre on a blue circle, surrounded by a green +garland, and surmounted by the imperial crown. + + + + + USE OF FLAGS BY PRIVATE PERSONS. + + +In regard to the use of the national flag by private persons, there is a +positive rule as to marine flags, but none, so far as I am aware, as to +its use on shore. I have occasionally seen it flown on shore with a +white border, under an impression, apparently, that this difference was +necessary, but it is unmeaning, and there is no authority for it. In +numberless instances we see one or other of the marine Ensigns hoisted +on shore over gentlemen's houses, or used in street decoration on the +occasion of public rejoicings; but nothing could be more absurd, as the +ensign is exclusively a ship flag. + +Any private individual entitled to armorial bearings may carry them on a +flag. In such cases the arms should not be on a shield, but filling the +entire flag. + +The flags and banners represented in works on heraldry have almost +invariably a fringe; but this is optional. If a fringe is used it should +be composed of the livery colours, each tincture of the arms giving its +colour to the portion of the fringe which adjoins it. In the British +army the colours of the different regiments are fringed. + + + + + FOREIGN FLAGS: FRANCE. + + +My notice of foreign flags must be short. Those of France and America +have naturally most interest for us. + +Previous to the Revolution the French can hardly be said to have had a +national flag. The colours of the reigning families--changing as they +did with each fresh dynasty, as was the case in our own early +history--were accepted in the place of national standards, while each +regiment in the army followed colours of its own. The celebrated _Chape +de Saint Martin de Tours_ and the _Oriflamme_ of the Abbey of Saint +Denis, were, like the labarum of Constantine, ecclesiastical banners, +symbolic of the two patrons of Christian France watching over her in her +battles. The Chape de Saint Martin was a banner imitating in form a cape +or cloak, and was of blue. The Oriflamme was red with a green fringe. By +the end of the tenth century this had become the royal standard. In one +of the windows of the Cathedral of Chartres (of the thirteenth century) +there is a representation of Henri Sieur de Argentin et du Mez, Marshall +of France under St. Louis, receiving from the hands of St. Denis a +banner which is supposed to be the Oriflamme. Fig. 30 is a copy of this +interesting old work of art. The banner, it will be observed, has five +points; but in other examples it has only three, each having attached to +it a tassel of green silk. + + [Illustration: Fig. 30.--The Oriflamme, circa 1248.] + +The royal banner of St. Louis was blue powdered with fleurs-de-lis in +gold, and these fleurs-de-lis have remained since the eleventh or +twelfth century a peculiarly French and royal device. It is indeed one +of extreme antiquity, the emblem of a long-forgotten worship--older by +many ages than any record of the doctrine of the Trinity, of which some +have supposed this flower to be an emblem.[44] + + [44] Laughton's _Heraldry of the Sea_. + +In the reign of Charles VI. the blue field ceased to be _powdered_ with +fleurs-de-lis, and was charged with three only--two and one. The white +flag which became the standard of the kings of France was probably not +introduced till the reign of Henry IV. But there is great confusion in +the history of the French flags, and this is increased by the use of +personal colours at sea, which continued among the French to a much +later period than among the English. In the colours of the French +regiments there has been great variety of design. Under the old monarchy +the regimental colours were of two kinds--one was the _drapeau-colonel_, +or royal; the other, called _drapeau d'ordonnance_, took its device from +the founder of the particular regiment which carried it, or from the +province of its origin. A common form of the royal colours was a white +cross on a blue field. In other examples, sometimes the cross and +sometimes the field were powdered with fleurs-de-lis. In some instances +the field was green. The flag displayed by the French in 1789 was a +white cross on a blue ground, with one fleur-de-lis at each corner of +the field, and the motto "Patrie et Liberte." + +The Tricolour was introduced at the Revolution, but the origin of the +design is unknown. Possibly a trace of it may be found in an +illumination in one of the MS. copies of Froissart. It represents the +King of France setting out against the Duke of Brittany, and his majesty +is preceded by a man on horseback bearing a swallow-tailed pennon, the +first part containing the ancient arms of France, and each of the +tails--composed of three stripes--red, white, and green. + +For some time after the Revolution the white field was retained. When +the three colours came to be used there appears to have been at first no +fixed order in arranging them, and in some cases they were placed +vertically, and in others horizontally. By a decree in 1790 it was +ordained that in the navy the flag on the bowsprit--the jack--should be +composed of three equal bands placed vertically, that next the staff +being red, the middle white, and the third blue. The flag at the stem +was to have in a canton the jack above described (occupying one fourth +of the flag), and to be surrounded by a narrow band, the half of which +was to be red and the other blue, and the rest of the flag to be white. +In 1794 this flag was abolished, and it was ordered "that the national +flag shall be formed of _the three national colours_ in equal bands +placed vertically, the hoist being blue, the centre white, and the fly +red." It would appear, however, that this arrangement was not for some +time universally adopted, and that old flags continued to be used. Thus, +in the great picture by De Loutherbourg at Greenwich, the French ships +are represented as wearing the suppressed flag of 1790; while, in a rare +print preserved in the Bibliotheque Nationale at Paris, representing the +magnificent ceremony at which the first Napoleon distributed eagles to +the troops in 1804, the banners suspended over the Ecole Militaire in +the Champ de Mars, where the ceremony took place, show the three colours +in fess, that is, in horizontal lines. But the vertical arrangement must +have been soon afterwards generally adopted, and this continued to be +the flag both of the French army and navy during the Empire. On the +return of the king in 1814, and again in 1815, it was abolished, and the +white flag restored; but the Tricolour was reintroduced in 1830, and it +has remained in use since.[45] + + [45] See French Imperial Standard, and National Flag, Plate IV. + Nos. 2 and 3. + +When the Emperor Napoleon assumed the sovereignty of Elba he had a +special flag made. It will be recollected that he was allowed to retain +the title of emperor, and although the island which comprised his +dominions was only sixty miles in circumference, the inhabitants barely +12,000, his household 35 persons, and his entire army only 700 infantry +and 60 cavalry, he considered it necessary to have a "national flag." +According to Sir Walter Scott, it bore on a white field a bend charged +with three bees. But the emperor was preparing another and very +different flag for his small army, of which I am able to give a +representation from a very rare coloured engraving.[46] It was the +tricolour of France, composed of the richest silk with the ornaments +elaborately embroidered in silver. It bore the imperial crown with the +letter N, and the eagle, on each of the blue and red portions, with the +imperial bees; and over all the inscription, "L'Empereur Napoleon a la +Garde Nationale de L'lle d'Elbe." To the staff, the top of which was +surmounted by a golden eagle, was suspended a tricoloured sash also +richly embroidered in silver. This splendid standard was presented by +Napoleon to his guards in Elba shortly before his invasion of France in +1815. On the reverse side there was subsequently embroidered the +inscription, "Champ de Mai"--the flag having been a second time +presented by the emperor to his guards at that celebrated meeting, a +short time before they marched for Waterloo. The standard was captured +by the Prussians, and on their entering Paris was sold to an English +gentleman who brought it to England.[47] + + [46] See Frontispiece. + + [47] When the drawing of it was taken it was in the possession + of BernardBrocas, Esq., at Wokefield. + + [Illustration: Fig. 31.] + + [Illustration: NATIONAL FLAGS AND STANDARDS. PLATE IV] + +The lately-abolished Eagle (Fig. 31) was borne as a standard in the +French army during the Empire only. It was introduced by Napoleon I., +who adopted it from the Romans. The ribbon attached was of silk five +inches wide and three feet long, and richly embroidered. After +Napoleon's fall the eagles were abandoned, but they were again +introduced by Napoleon III. In consequence of their intrinsic value, +they proved in the Franco-German war a much-coveted prize among the +Germans, who captured a considerable number of them on the successive +defeats of the French. The first Napoleon was very careful of the +Eagles. He himself tells us, in one of the conversations at St. Helena, +that he established in each regiment two subaltern officers as special +guardians of the Eagle. "Ils n'avaient d'autre arme," he says, "que +plusieurs paires de pistolets: d'autre emploi que de veiller froidement +a bruler la cervelle de celui qui avancerait pour saisir l'aigle." + +The Dutch and Russian ensigns have the same tinctures as those of the +present French flag, but borne fess ways--that is horizontally. The +former has the red uppermost. The latter has _the metal_, the white, +uppermost, and the two _colours_, the blue and the red--against all our +notions of heraldic propriety--placed together below. (See Dutch and +Russian flags, Plate IV. Nos. 6 and 8.) + +The Belgian colours adopted in 1831 are arranged as the French, but the +colours are black, yellow, and red. (Plate IV. No. 5.) The flag of +Prussia is also composed of three stripes-black, white, and red, but +arranged horizontally. (Plate IV. No. 4.) The flag of Mexico is arranged +like that of France, but the colours are green, white, and red. (Plate +IV. No. 10.) + + + + + THE AMERICAN FLAG. + + +The history of the American flag is interesting. Previous to the +Declaration of Independence the different colonies retained the +standards of the mother country with the addition of some local emblem. +Massachusetts, for example, adopted the pine-tree, a device which was +also placed on the coins. In 1775 "the Union with a red field"--a red +ensign--was displayed at New York on a liberty poll with the +inscription, "George Rex and the Liberties of America;" and it is +interesting to note that the first flag adopted as a national ensign by +the ships of the United States consisted of the horizontal stripes with +which we are familiar, but with the British Union still retained in a +canton. This was replaced by the stars on a blue ground. Some of the +flags first used--at the time when only twelve states had ratified the +articles of convention--bore only twelve stars. On the 14th of August, +1777, Congress resolved "that the flag of the United States be thirteen +stripes alternately red and white, and that the union be thirteen stars, +white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." (See Fig. 32.) + +It has been said that the design of the flag was derived from arms borne +by the family of Washington; but there is no foundation for this. An +American writer--with probably as little ground for the statement--says: +"the blue field was taken from the Covenanters' banner in Scotland, +likewise significant of the League and Covenant of the United Colonies +against oppression, and incidentally involving vigilance, perseverance, +and justice. The stars were then disposed in a circle symbolizing the +perpetuity of the union, as well as equality with themselves. The whole +was a blending of the various flags used previous to the war, viz. the +red flags of the army and white colours of the floating batteries--the +gem of the navy."[48] + + [48] Article on "Flags," by H. K. W. Wilcox, New York, _Harper's + Magazine_, July, 1873. + + [Illustration: Fig. 32.] + +In 1795 it was ordained that the stripes should be increased to fifteen +and the stars to the same number; but in 1818 Congress ordered a return +to the thirteen stripes but with twenty stars, and that on the admission +of any new state a star should be added. Thus the old number of stripes +perpetuated the original number of the states forming the union, while +the added stars show the union in its existing state. In consequence of +the greatly increased number of stars, the circular arrangement had to +be abandoned, and they are now disposed in parallel lines. (See flag of +the United States, Plate V. No. 8.) The construction of the first +national standard, from which the stars and stripes were afterwards +adopted, took place at Philadelphia in 1777 under the personal direction +of Washington aided by a committee of Congress. + +The flag of the American admirals is composed of the stripes alone, and +the stars are used separately as a jack. One of the first American flags +used at sea, and bearing only the twelve stars, is still preserved. It +is the flag which was flown by the celebrated Paul Jones from his +privateer, the _Bon homme Richard_, in his engagement with the English +ship _Serapis_ on 23d September, 1799. In the course of the action the +flag having been shot away from the mast-head, Lieutenant Stafford, then +a volunteer in Paul Jones' ship, leaped into the sea after it, and +recovered and replaced it, being severely wounded while performing this +action. The flag thus saved was afterwards presented to him by the +marine committee of Congress, and it now (1880) belongs to his son.[49] + + [49] Letter in _Daily Telegraph_, 18th March, 1880, by Mr. W. + Stafford Northcote. + + [Illustration: NATIONAL FLAGS AND STANDARDS. PLATE V.] + +I may mention that the white and red stripes are not peculiar to the +American flag. A flag of similar design was for a long time a well-known +signal in the British navy, being that used for the red division to draw +into line of battle. + + + + + OTHER FOREIGN FLAGS. + + +The flag of Liberia is very like that of the United States, being +composed of red and white stripes with a blue canton. The only +difference is that the latter bears only one star. (See the flag of +Liberia, Plate V. No. 6.) The flag of Bremen is also composed of red and +white stripes. + +Spain from the first period of her greatness bore the Castilian flag, +quartering Castile and Leon. In an old illumination representing the +coronation of Henry, son of John, King of Castile, there are on the +king's left hand two men, unarmed, the one holding a banner of Castile +and Leon quarterly, the other a blue pennon charged with three kings' +heads-the banner of the three kings of Cologne. On his majesty's right +hand a man, also unarmed, holds a shield with the arms of Castile and +Leon. It was this last device, as a national flag, that was carried by +the ships of Columbus. But Columbus had also as a personal flag one +given to him by Queen Isabella--a white swallow-tailed pennon bearing a +Latin cross in green between the letters FY crowned. These two flags are +noteworthy as the first that crossed the Atlantic. + +The present royal standard of Spain is of very complicated construction +(see Plate V. No. 1), embracing among its bearings the arms of Castile +and Leon, of Aragon, Sicily, Burgundy, and others. The national ensign +is in marked contrast by its simplicity. It is composed of yellow and +red stripes--derived from the bars of Aragon. (See Plate V. No. 2.) + +Austria at first bore on her flag the Roman eagle. Now her war ensign is +red, white, and red placed horizontally, and in the centre a shield of +the same within a gold border (the arms of the Dukes of Austria), +surmounted by the royal crown. (See Plate V. No. 3.) The merchant flag +is the same without the shield and crown. The Austro-Hungarian flag has +the lower stripe half red and half green, with two shields, one on the +right containing the arms of Austria, and the other bearing the arms of +Hungary. (See Plate V. No. 4.) + +The flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon I. on his declaration of the +Kingdom of Italy. It is a modification of the French, the division of +the field next the staff being, instead of blue, green, which, it is +known, was a favourite colour of the emperor. In the centre is a red +shield charged with a white cross--the arms of the Dukes of Savoy, now +borne by Italy. A representation of the Italian merchant flag will be +found on Plate V. No. 5. The war ensign is the same, except that the +shield is surmounted by the royal crown. + +In the construction of the flag of Norway, curiously enough, the same +blunder has been committed as in our own Union. It is "described" as a +blue cross _fimbriated_ white; but the border, as the flag is worn, is +too broad, and it really represents two crosses, a blue cross +superimposed on a white one--just as our St. George's cross, as +represented in our national colours, is nothing but a red cross +superimposed on a white one. Mr. Laughton accordingly looking at the +Norwegian flag in this light, calls it the white flag of Denmark with a +blue cross over it,[50] which it was certainly not intended to be. The +flag is shown in Plate V. No. 11. The Swedish-Norwegian union in the +canton was introduced in 1817, when the two countries were united under +one king. + + [50] _Heraldry of the Sea_, p. 23. + +The Danish flag (see Plate V. No. 7) is the oldest now in existence. The +tradition is that it descended from Heaven ready made in the year 1219 +in answer to the prayer of King Waldemar, as he was leading his troops +to battle against the pagans of the Baltic. Be that as it may, it +certainly dates from the thirteenth century. + +The flag of Portugal has borne a conspicuous part in history, and the +devices in it carry us back to a very early period. The present royal +standard is red with a red shield in the centre charged with towers or +castles for the kingdom of Algarve, which Alphonsus III. got from the +King of Castile when he married the daughter of the latter in 1278; and +in the centre there is a white shield bearing on it the shields of the +five Moors placed crossways. The Portuguese national flag is per pale, +blue and white, and in the centre point is the same device as appears on +the royal standard. The present flag, however, is only a modification of +the old flag which was carried by the early discoverers, and which +brought glory to Portugal in the days of Prince Henry the Navigator. +(See the national flag of Portugal, Plate V. No. 12.) + +The royal standards of Norway and Sweden, and also the ensign of these +kingdoms, are peculiar in preserving the ancient form of having the fly +ending in three points. (See the Swedish standard, Plate V. No. 10.) + +Greece has adopted the colours of Bavaria in compliment to her first +king. (See Plate VI. No. 7.) + +The devices on some of the Asiatic flags are peculiar. That of Burmah +bears a peacock; Siam, a white elephant; and China, a hideous-looking +dragon. (See these flags, Plate VI. Nos. 1, 2, 3.) On the flag of +Bolivia (Plate VI. No. 4) is the representation of a volcano, suggested +in all probability by the great volcano of Serhama, which rises in +Western Bolivia to the height of 23,000 feet. Japan, the land of the far +east, the source of the sun, as her name signifies, has adopted for her +flag the sun rising blood-red. (See Plate V. No. 9.) + + [Illustration: NATIONAL FLAGS AND STANDARDS. PLATE VI.] + +The flag of Brazil, which is very inartistic in its construction, bears +among other devices the armillary sphere of Portugal. (See Plate VI. No. +8.) + +In Plates IV. V. and VI. will be found representations of the flags of +other kingdoms and republics. These speak for themselves, and do not +call for particular description. + +But I must now bring these notices to a close. To the true patriot of +every country the national flag must be a subject of pride. If, as a +French writer observes, it does not always lead him to victory, it +inspires him to fight well, and if need be to die well. "We pay to it," +says the same writer, "royal honours. When it is paraded--in rags it may +be, and with faded colours, bearing in letters of gold the names of +victories--the troops present arms, the officers salute it with the +sword, and the white heads of veteran generals are uncovered and bent +before the ensign." To the soldier its loss is one of the greatest +calamities. In Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Moscow in 1812 not +many of his flags remained with the Russians. Of those which were not +carried off most were burned, and of some of these the officers drank +the ashes. More recently the same thing is said to have been done at +Metz and Sedan. So a French writer tells us, and he characterizes the +act as "_communion sublime_!" + +What the flag is, indeed, to the sailor and the soldier, whether when +shaken out in battle or when displayed in memory of great victories, +none but the soldier and the sailor can realize. At the interment of +Lord Nelson, when his flag was about to be lowered into the grave, the +sailors who assisted at the ceremony ran forward with one accord and +tore it into small pieces, to be preserved as sacred relics. "I know," +says Charles Kingsley--in those _Brave Words_ which he addressed to our +soldiers then fighting in the trenches before Sebastopol, "I know that +you would follow those colours into the mouth of the pit; that you would +die twice over rather than let them be taken. Those noble rags, +inscribed with noble names of victory, should remind you every day and +every hour that he who fights for Queen and country in a just cause is +fighting not only in the Queen's army but in Christ's army, and that he +shall in no wise lose his reward." + + + + + INDEX. + + + A. + + Armenian Flag, 110. + + Army, British, Flags of, 96. + + Artillery--have no colours, 101. + + Assyrian Standards, 17, 19. + + Austria, Flag of, 114. + + Austro-Hungary, Flag of, 114. + + + B. + + Banner of St. Cuthbert, 33. + + Banner-bearers, 33. + + Bannerets, 30. + + ---- their following, 32. + + Banners, 29. + + Belgian Flag, 109. + + Beverly, Sir John of, his banner, 33. + + Black Prince at Navarete, 31. + + "Blue Blanket," 50, 51. + + "Bluidy Banner" of Covenanters, 52. + + Bolivia, Flag of, 116. + + Brazil, Flag of, 117. + + Bryon, Sir Guy de, banner-bearer of Edward III., 34. + + Burmah, Flag of, 116. + + ---- British, Flag of, 71. + + + C. + + Carlaverock, Siege of, 32. + + Chandos, Sir John, made banneret, 31. + + China, Flag of, 116. + + Cochrane, Lord, 85, 86. + + Colours of British Army, 96. + + Colours of 24th Regiment, 96, 98. + + ---- of Foot Guards, 97. + + ---- of Cavalry, 101. + + ---- Presentation of new, 100. + + Columbus, his flag, 113. + + Commonwealth, Flag of, 56. + + Constantine, Standard of, 25. + + Consuls, Flags of, 71. + + Coronations, Banners borne at, 35. + + Covenanters, Flags of, 51, 52. + + Custodiers of Banners, 34. + + + D. + + Danish Flag, 115. + + ---- Standards, 27. + + ---- Flag, 109. + + Deceiving enemy, Use of Flags in, 76. + + Douglas. See Earl Douglas, 47, 48, 49. + + Dragon--Standard of Romans and Dacians, 25. + + Dragon--Standard of Germany and England, 25. + + Dragoon Guards, Colours of, 101. + + Dutch Fleets, 70. + + + E. + + Eagle, Roman, 21. + + ---- French, 108. + + Earl Douglas, his standard, 47, 48. + + Earl Marshall, his standard, 46. + + Earl Percy--love pledges, 48. + + Edward III., his banner, 34. + + ---- his standard, 37. + + Egyptian Standards, 13, 14, 15. + + Engineers, Royal--have no colours, 101. + + Ensign, The, 67. + + + F. + + False Colours, when may be used, 83. + + Firing at Colours of a friendly nation, 90. + + Flag, waving, First introduction of, 26. + + Flag of Mutiny, 75. + + Flags, First forms of, 27. + + ---- Different kinds of, 28. + + ---- Hauling down enemy's, 86. + + ---- Usage, International, as to, 88. + + ---- of British army, 96. + + ---- of military authorities embarked in boats, 102. + + Flags, Special, 71. + + ---- of private persons, 102. + + Fleurs de lis of France in arms of England, 37. + + Flodden, Battle of, 46. + + Foreign Flags, 103. + + ---- ---- use of at home, 89. + + French Flags, 103. + + Funerals, Banners borne at, 35. + + + G. + + George III., his standard, 41. + + Gonfanon, 28. + + Greece, Flag of, 116. + + Greeks, Standards of, 26. + + + H. + + Hauling down enemy's colours, 86, 87. + + Hebrew Standards, 15. + + Henry II., his standard, 37. + + Henry VII., his personal standard, 38. + + Hopson, Admiral, 87. + + Hussars--have no colours, 101. + + + I. + + India, Governor-general of, his flag, 71. + + International usage as to flags, 88. + + Ireland, National flag of, 54. + + ---- Lord-lieutenant of, his flag, 71. + + Isandlana, 11, 98. + + Italy, Flag of, 114. + + + J. + + Jack, Union, 64. + + ---- pilot, 66. + + James I., his standard, 40. + + Japan, Flag of, 116. + + + K. + + Knights Bannerets, 30. + + + L. + + Labarum, Roman, 24. + + Lancers--have no colours, 101. + + Liberia, Flag of, 113. + + Lord-lieutenant of Ireland, his flag, 71. + + + M. + + Marshall. See Earl Marshall, 46. + + Mary Stuart, Queen, her standard, 40. + + Moscow, Flags destroyed in Napoleon's retreat from, 117. + + Mourning, Flags signifying, 74. + + Mutiny, Flag hoisted in, 75. + + + N. + + Napoleon I., Standard presented by to his guards, 107. + + National Flags, 54. + + Navarete, Battle of, 31. + + Norman Standards, 27. + + Norway, Peculiar form of Flag of, 115, 116. + + + O. + + Otterbourne, Battle of, 47. + + + P. + + Pacha, Standard of, 21. + + Parley, Signal for, 34. + + Parthians, Banners of, 25, 26. + + Paul Jones, his flag, 110. + + Pendant, The, 72. + + ---- Long, 73. + + ---- Broad, 73. + + Pennon, 28. + + Penny, Design of Union on, 63. + + Penoncel, 28. + + Percy. See Earl Percy, 48. + + Persian Standards, 20. + + Portugal, Flag of, 115. + + Private persons, Use of flags by, 102. + + Prussian Flag, 109. + + + Q. + + Quarantine, Flag of, 75. + + + R. + + Rifle Brigade--has no colours, 101. + + Roman Standards, 21, 22. + + Royal Standard of England, 36, 40. + + ---- of Scotland, 38. + + Russian Flag, 109. + + + S. + + Saxons, Standards of, 27. + + Scottish Arms, their precedence on Royal standard, 42. + + Sedan, Flags destroyed by French at, 117. + + Siam, Flag of, 116. + + Sickness, Flag intimating, 78. + + Signal Flags, 73. + + Spain, Flag of, 114. + + Special Flags, 71. + + Squadrons, Division of navy into, 68. + + Standard, Battle of, 28. + + Standard, The Royal, 36, 40. + + ---- ---- when hoisted in ships, 44. + + Standard-bearers, 17, 18. + + Standards, Ancient, 13. + + ---- of Egypt, 13-15. + + ---- of the Hebrews, 15. + + ---- of the Assyrians, 17, 19. + + ---- of Persians, 20. + + ---- of Turks, 20. + + ---- of Pachas, 21. + + ---- Roman, 21, 23, 24. + + ---- of Greeks, 26. + + ---- Parthian, 26. + + ---- of Danes, 27. + + ---- of Saxons, 27. + + ---- of Normans, 27. + + ---- suspended from trumpets, 35. + + ---- at coronations and funerals, 35. + + ---- Personal, of sovereigns, 38. + + ---- borne by Nobles, 44. + + ---- borne by Trades, 50. + + Supporters of Royal Arms, 43. + + Surrender, Signal of, at sea, 77, 81. + + ---- of a fortress, 34. + + Swedish-Norwegian Flag, 115. + + + T. + + Trades, Standards borne by, 50. + + Truce, Flag of, 74. + + Trumpets, Banners suspended from, 35. + + Turkish Standards, 20. + + + U. + + Union, Design of, on penny, 63. + + ---- Flag, The first, 55. + + ---- under Commonwealth, 56. + + ---- on Restoration, 56. + + ---- present form, 57. + + ---- Error in construction of, 58. + + ---- as it ought to be made, 62. + + ---- how and when displayed, 65, 66. + + ---- in Ensign, 68. + + ---- Jack, 64. + + United States Flag, 110. + + Usage, International, as to flags, 88. + + Uses of Flags in naval warfare, 75. + + + V. + + Volunteer Regiments--have no colours, 102. + + + W. + + Warwick, Earl of, his standard, 45. + + William III., his standard, 41. + + Wolf, on Roman Standard, 21. + + + Y. + + Yellow Flag, 75. + + ---- Successful use of, by Lord Cochrane, 85. + + + + + Transcriber Notes: + +Passages in italics were indicated by _underscores_. + +Small caps were replaced with ALL CAPS. + +Throughout the document, the oe ligature was replaced with "oe". + +Throughout the document, the superscripted letters are preceeded by a +carot. If there is only one superscripted letter it is placed directly +after the carot, and if there is more than one superscripted letter they +are enclosed by curly brackets. Thus, the word "y^e" represents a word +where the "y" is normal and the "e" is superscripted; and the word +"1^{st}" represents a word where the "1" is normal and the "st" is +superscripted. + +The illustrations have been moved so that they do not break up +paragraphs and so that they are next to the text they illustrate. Thus +the page number of the illustration might not match the page number in +the List of Illustrations, and the order of illustrations may not be the +same in the List of Illustrations and in the book. + +Errors in punctuations and inconsistent hyphenation were not corrected +unless otherwise noted. + +On page 55, "Andrews" was replaced with "Andrew's". + +On page 71, "top-gallantmast-head" was replaced with +"top-gallant-masthead". + +On page 73, two instances of "top-gallantmast head" were replaced with +"top-gallant-masthead". + +On page 96, "buntin" was replaced with "bunting". + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Flags:, by Andrew Macgeorge + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FLAGS: *** + +***** This file should be named 39221.txt or 39221.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/2/2/39221/ + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Ernest Schaal, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |